James, Nkunku, Guiu, Jackson: Enzo Maresca confirms Chelsea team news vs Man United | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca has confirmed the Chelsea team news for their huge Premier League clash against Manchester United.

Chelsea host their final home Premier League game of the season on Friday night as they welcome an out-of-form Man United to Stamford Bridge as they look to strengthen their bid for Champions League qualification.

Their hopes were dented last time out in the league following a 2-0 defeat to Champions League chasing Newcastle United, with forward Nicolas Jackson offering the Blues further headache after his straight red card.

With Jackson unavailable for the remainder of the season, Maresca will have to find alternative options in attack. One option who Chelsea cannot replace the Senegal international with is Marc Guiu, who is not ready to return from injury yet.

"We are working on that," Maresca said on finding solutions in Jackson's absence. "These are the options that we have. We don't have many options.

It was a costly moment of madness from Nicolas Jackson. / IMAGO / Sportimage

"Unfortunately, Marc Guiu is still injured. He started to train with us but he's not ready to play from the start. We are working on different options for Friday night."

Chelsea will also be without Christopher Nkunku, Maresca confirmed, which leaves the Blues potentially using one of Cole Palmer, Pedro Neto or Tyrique George to lead the line.

Reece James offered some concern in the week building up to the game after missing training on Tuesday due to illness. However, the Chelsea captain has trained since and is in contention to feature after coming on at half-time against Newcastle.

"Reece is okay," added Maresca. "He was ill and was out for Tuesday's session and yesterday he had a session with us."

Man United have had a dismal league campaign, currently sitting in 16th place, and will have one eye on next Wednesday's Europa League final, which could salvage their season if they beat Spurs.

Mason Mount (left) will return to Stamford Bridge once again after his Chelsea departure in the summer of 2023. / IMAGO / News Images

Whether or not it's a good time for Chelsea to play the Red Devils will become clear come kick-off, but Maresca's full, and only, focus is on claiming all three points against Ruben Amorim's side.

"In my personal opinion, it's not about if it's a good time to face them or not," insisted Maresca pre-match. "It's just about us. I think even if we had a defeat the last game against Newcastle, I think the team is in a good moment, is in a good run.

"The last 10 Premier League games, I think we had 20 points. The average is two points per game, that is a good average to reach the Champions League spot. So we have to be focused on us and try to do our best to win Friday night."

Jadon Sancho will also be unavailable to face his parent club due to Premier League loan rules.