Enzo Maresca will have to be creative to stop this major weakness getting worse | OneFootball

Chelsea face a major test after this international break when they take on an impressive Liverpool team at Anfield. Unfortunately for the Blues, it will be done with their weakest team of the season so far.

Even assuming Noni Madueke and Levi Colwill recover from their injuries, which manager Enzo Maresca dismissed as minor in his press conference after the game, they will certainly be without the suspended Marc Cucurella and Wesley Fofana from their back line.

Robert Sanchez behind them had a good game yesterday, but has otherwise continued to look a little shaky this season. The Blues have started the season well, and have just two clean sheets in 7 games in the Premier League. Even within those two, one came against Bournemouth where we were very fortunate to not concede.

Against Liverpool, we’ll really be stretched to our limits.

Enzo Maresca on the touchline against Wolves.

Manager forced to come up with clever solutions to compensate for absences

With Cucurella out, Renato Veiga will play on the left. He’s impressed in our cup games so far, but this is a huge step up for him in terms of the quality he’ll be facing. Mo Salah is significantly more dangerous than whoever Servette were putting on the right wing.

We will also see Tosin come in to the defence to replace Fofana. That’s manageable – but if Colwill is out too, that means Benoit Badiashile or Axel Disasi too, and we don’t have much faith in them.

This is where Enzo Maresca will really show what he can do. We wonder if we’ll see a tweak in formation – perhaps an attacking player dropped to allow Romeo Lavia back into the team in a more solid 3 man midfield alongside Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez. Or perhaps the fact that those two will be playing games in South America in the days leading up to the fixture makes them a doubt too?