Enzo Maresca can finally return to something which brought him big success in the past | OneFootball

Benoit Badiashile made a somewhat surprising start for Chelsea on Thursday night, playing 45 minutes in his first game back since picking up an injury in early December.

In the preceding game against Southampton, we saw Wesley Fofana back on the bench after his similar period of absence. That game was 11 days ago, so he’s had even more time since to build up his fitness. He will be treated very carefully by the medical team, but will have to take the plunge eventually and risk the Frenchman.

Meanwhile Trevoh Chalobah also shook off a minor problem to start earlier this week too. Tosin Adarabioyo and Levi Colwill have been fit pretty much all season.

With Renato Veiga and Axel Disasi loaned out, that means we’re now back to having all 5 of our senior central defender options ready to go. That’s great news for Enzo Maresca, but also means he’s got some big decisions to make.

Maresca finally likely to restore his favoured partnership

Enzo Maresca leads a training session at Chelsea. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)

Colwill and Fofana was the first choice pair until injuries broke them up. Badiashile then seemed to be briefly favoured over Tosin before injury ruled him out too. Tosin and Chalobah have been battling back and forth to partner Colwill since.

Fitness and sharpness will still probably factor into the decision for tomorrow’s game – but beyond that it’s really down to the manager. We suspect he will restore the original combination, as playing alongside Fofana made Colwill look so much better.

Let’s hope this brings the little bit of stability at the back that we need to kick on and get some better results in the final few months of the season. Our stats with Fofana in the team are far better, so it’s all very promising.