Maresca speaks openly about “fantastic player” Chelsea have to face on Sunday | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca is preparing to take on Newcastle in the Premier League this weekend, and the Chelsea boss was asked about one player in particular his team will have to deal with – central midfielder Sandro Tonali.

The Chelsea boss was full of praise for his countryman, who has been superb for the Magpies this season and has been a major factor in helping them challenge us so hard for a top 5 spot, when asked about him in the press conference previewing this weekend’s fixtures.

“Fantastic player” Tonali hailed by Maresca in presser

Sandro Tonali in midfield for Newcastle. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

“Sandro probably this season has been top for Newcastle. For him, he’s doing very well. He’s a fantastic player. I know him since he was in Brescia and then moved to Milan and then now here in England,” Maresca said.

“He’s a fantastic player, he’s doing well but they have many, many good players. They are different players. We’re going to try to prepare the game in the best way, in the way that we think we can win the game and hopefully at the end we can be happy with the result.”

Chelsea’s midfield faces next level battle against motivated Magpies

After a midweek rest, it will fall on Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caciedo and Romeo Lavia to show what they can do and win the midfield battle against Tonali and co. That will be no mean feat, especially in what promises to be an intense atmosphere at St James’ Park on Sunday in the early kick off.

The return of Lavia has been really effective in recent games, and even helped us see off champions Liverpool this weekend, but rather than a rotated and relaxed Reds midfield, this will be a Newcastle side with everything to play for, making it a far greater challenge.