Enzo Maresca faces last minute double decision as Reece James' Chelsea role considered

We are back. Almost. Premier League football is now just days away - and the good news for Chelsea supporters is that they are involved in the first match of the weekend.

Enzo Maresca would have liked the fixture to be a bit later given the returning players from international duty but the head coach has a large squad to choose from. Maresca will travel to Leicester City on Saturday afternoon as he prepares to take on his former club for the first time since leaving the King Power Stadium over the summer.

The Foxes have had a solid start to the campaign, their first back in the Premier League after being relegated in the 2022/23 season. Leicester, now managed by Steve Cooper, are in 15th-place going into the weekend and will be looking for some more crucial points to lift them even further above the relegation zone.

Meanwhile, Chelsea can go within a point of second-place Manchester City should they be victorious in Leicester. With that being said, football.london takes a look at a few things to look out for, from a Blues perspective, on Saturday.

Late double decision

Two of Chelsea's midfield in Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo were both in action for Argentina and Ecuador, respectively, in the early hours of Wednesday morning (UK time) and are not expected to return to Cobham until Thursday at the very earliest. Even then, there is no guarantee they complete a full session given the amount of miles they have travelled from South America.

Sources tell football.london that player welfare is always the club's number one priority and they are always in constant contact with their representatives and national teams throughout the international breaks. While both of them will be back in the country around two days before the kick-off time on Saturday, the fact that it is the first match of the weekend is bad news for Chelsea and their midfielders.

Maresca, with the advice of his medical department, will see how the South American duo are on Friday before making a decision regarding how many minutes they will play at the King Power. Meanwhile, Romeo Lavia suffered a knock to his hamstring before the international break and did not feature for Belgium despite travelling with the squad for their UEFA Nations League defeats against Italy and Israel.

New role for James?

Reece James has featured four times since returning from injury but it has been very much in a reserved role. Making his comeback at Anfield last month, the Chelsea captain did a fine job against the Premier League leaders but did so without having the attacking role we have seen from him in the past.

The club are being cautious with James - an understandable approach given the 24-year-old's horrid luck with injuries in recent years. While James' skillset appears to be perfect for one of the advanced full-back roles, we are yet to see the skipper be used there.

So far since returning, he has very much been a limited full-back; one who often moves into a more central role as the right-sided centre-back in a three. Malo Gusto and Marc Cucurella have often been used in the left-back role when James is playing and they have been deployed in almost the No.10 position.

An atmosphere to cope with

It is set to be a cracking atmosphere at the King Power on Saturday afternoon - something Chelsea will have to deal with. Leicester are likely to look for a fast start against the Blues. The first goal is so important.

The longer the game stays goalless, as long as Chelsea have some sort of control, you almost feel as if it will be a matter of time before the visitors strike. However, if Leicester were to come out fast and get the first goal early on, then it will be up to the Blues to see how they respond to the adversity.