Enzo Maresca can unleash a new-look Chelsea midfield and attack vs Tottenham

Chelsea return to Premier League action on Thursday evening as arch rivals Tottenham come to Stamford Bridge in a seismic London derby.

The Blues are looking to take another step towards finishing in the top five of the Premier League table, with fifth-place set to be enough to qualify for next season's Champions League. With nine games of the league still to play, Enzo Maresca's side are sitting prettily in fourth-place but will be aware that one bad week could see them drop down to as low as seventh.

Maresca has been boosted this week with some crucial players returning to training at an integral time. Cole Palmer missed the defeat to Arsenal before the international break with a minor muscular injury and consequently withdrew from the England squad for their wins against Albania and Latvia, but the 22-year-old has since returned to training at Cobham and is now in contention to face Spurs.

Nicolas Jackson, too, has returned to training in recent days. The 23-year-old striker has been absent for almost two months after suffering a hamstring injury in the victory against West Ham United on February 4. Noni Madueke sustained a similar issue 10 days later and has also returned to full training over the past week.

Romeo Lavia made his return to action in the defeat at Arsenal last time out, with the Belgian midfielder getting himself a brief cameo appearance at the Emirates Stadium. Lavia will be knocking on the door to be in the starting line-up at Stamford Bridge on Thursday night in what would be only ninth start of the season for the 21-year-old this season with another injury-riddled campaign taking its toll.

Jackson and Palmer, should they be deemed fit enough, seem shoo-ins to start in SW6 given their significance to the way Maresca likes to play. If Jackson, Palmer and Lavia were to start against Tottenham, it would be just the eighth time that has been the case in all competitions this season. The last time all three were on the pitch from the start together came in the 2-2 draw with Bournemouth on January 14 - almost three months ago; the game, incidentally, Palmer last scored in.

The trio did start four games on the bounce together in late-October to early-November against Liverpool, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Arsenal, respectively. However, since then, the four have only started together sporadically given fitness problems, particularly to Lavia.

Lavia will be desperate to ensure he finishes the season without any more injuries, with muscular problems being his kryptonite since moving to Chelsea in the summer of 2023. Over the last two seasons, albeit this one is not finished just yet, the Belgium international has made just 14 appearances for the Blues in all competitions - registering less than 650 minutes in total.

His significance to the side is telling, though, with Chelsea seemingly much more balanced when he is the holding midfielder. As well as this, Lavia's ability in possession has quite often been underrated by supporters, with the former Southampton midfielder looking like the perfect man to slot in between the lines and play out from the back.

The fact he did not go on international duty with Belgium has come as a boost for Chelsea and Maresca, who has been working closely with Lavia behind the scenes at Cobham over the past two-and-a-half weeks. Hopefully that will mean the Belgian is ready and raring to take on Spurs from the start when Thursday night comes around.