Maresca drops Southampton team news hint as he admits Chelsea ace could be a “good option” | OneFootball

Chelsea play Southampton on Tuesday night and Enzo Maresca has dropped a hint on who might be involved in the must win fixture.

The Blues are in a dire run of form and after defeat against Aston Villa on Saturday, it’s now two wins in the last ten Premier League games.

Enzo Maresca’s men have dropped to seventh having been second just before Christmas, but despite their poor form they are still only a point outside the top four.

Maresca drops Southampton team news hint

Maresca made a tactical change against Villa by playing Reece James in midfield, whilst Pedro Neto was deployed down the middle in the absence of a recognised striker.

Despite losing the game the Blues put in a better performance than in the 3-0 defeat against Brighton, and there were some promising signs.

James played well in midfield, whilst Neto had his best game in a while, and playing him down the middle actually gave Chelsea some threat in behind that had been missing in previous weeks.

Neto impressed down the middle against Villa. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

Jason Cundy claimed Neto gave it his all against Villa, and given the absence of Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu it would make sense for the Portuguese to continue there against the Saints.

Maresca stopped short of confirming if that would be the case, but admitted it was certainly a good option for the Blues.

“Could be a good option,” he told his pre-match press conference.

“We tried with Pedro days before the game, we saw he could do that, it was a positive one.

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“The performance in general was positive. Enzo was fantastic. Reece struggled in some moments but his performance was very good.”

Chelsea won’t get a better chance to return to winning ways than against the Premier League’s bottom club, and having registered an assist against Villa, Maresca will be hoping Neto can once again step up and deliver with the Blues in desperate need of three points.