Enzo Maresca without key Chelsea duo for Heidenheim clash after honest admission

It has been perfect in the UEFA Conference League league phase for Chelsea so far.

Three games played, nine points on the board, 16 goals scored and only three conceded. As well as this, Enzo Maresca has been able to choose a completely different team for all three of the Blues' European games in the newly-formed group stage.

When Chelsea go to Heidenheim on Thursday evening, Maresca is widely expected to make 11 changes to his team once again. After beating Leicester City 2-1 in the early kick-off on Saturday afternoon, it would come as a big surprise if there were any survivors for the match in Germany later this week.

Two players that almost certainly will not be involved are Wesley Fofana and Romeo Lavia. Fofana started and completed 90 minutes against Leicester at the weekend, while Lavia was a second-half substitute in the win at the King Power Stadium.

Meanwhile, Reece James is expected to be sidelined with a hamstring injury. The Chelsea captain suffered his latest setback last week in training and is expected to have a scan in the next few days to discover the severity of the problem, football.london understands.

Prior to his injury, James was on the same fitness programme as the likes of Fofana and Lavia. "It is complicated when you get injury, injury, injury again," Maresca said on James last month. "It is not easy so you are always looking for a solution.

"Probably the solution with Reece is the same solution we are using with Romeo and Wes in terms of using them for just once a week, in one game, because probably in this moment, for different reasons, Reece's body cannot play twice a week. One of the solutions is probably to try and manage him in the same way we are doing with Wes and Romeo."

While James is not fit anyway, it looks as if Fofana and Lavia, after both taking part on Saturday, will be rested for the match in Germany. We could see Tosin Adarabioyo come into the side, while Axel Disasi may be given a run at right-back depending on how Malo Gusto is.

Gusto missed Saturday's win at Leicester because of illness - and even if he is ready to play at the Voith-Arena, Maresca may feel as if it is better to rest the French right-back for Sunday's clash with Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge. In midfield, we could see Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Cesare Casadei be given rare starts.

Casadei has featured in all three Conference League games and in the Carabao Cup win against Barrow but is yet to play a single minute in the Premier League. Dewsbury-Hall, meanwhile, has seen very limited minutes in the Premier League but has started two of the three matches in Europe.

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