Chelsea player stakes huge claim to win place in Enzo Maresca’s best Xl going forward | OneFootball

One Chelsea player has recently been quietly going about his business, and last night he had yet another audition to win a regular starting place in Enzo Maresca’s ‘best Xl’.

It has become clear that the Italian coach has two starting Xl’s at Chelsea right now, one for the Premier League, and one for domestic cup competitions. It seems that this is something Chelsea wanted to do with their squad build in order to manage the fixture congestion and fatigue that comes with it. As we know, last season Chelsea also suffered with so many injuries, so this should also help with that.

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It means that when the second string get to start games, like last night’s 4-2 win over Gent in the Conference League, then they are on audition and have a chance to stake a claim.

Pedro Neto sends strong message to Maresca

Neto scored again last night

Staking a claim is exactly what winger Pedro Neto did last night and for me, he was the best player on the pitch.

According to Squawka, Neto’s stats last night were:3

2/33 passes completed 6 touches in opp. box 5 chances created 5x possession won 4 shots 3 duels won 2 take-ons completed 1 goal

And according to Stat Muse FC, Neto created 5 chances against Gent, who created 5 chances as a team.

He was sizzling last night and he has been in his last few games to be honest, whether as a sub or starting.

I think Maresca will really have a decision to make now, because Neto is coming for the starting place of Noni Madueke!