Chelsea – Copenhagen predicted lineup has academy star in – but fan favourite out | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca’s press conference yesterday saw him answering questions about Cole Palmer, who has been added to the squad list for the Conference League for the knockout stages.

The coach confirmed he fully intended to use his star player at some point, although his mention of “some minutes” had us speculating we would likely only see Palmer as a sub in this first leg, if at all.

We weren’t the only ones to think that. SofaScore, along with a few other sites we checked out, have Palmer on the bench to start the game.

What was interesting about their predicted lineup was that it also featured academy superstar Tyrique George as a starter. Frankly we would love this to be the case – we desperately want George to get some minutes and this would be a great chance for him to do just that.

Before our last match, Maresca all but promised him a start at some stage too, and given there’s a second leg at Stamford Bridge to come, there is no risk at all starting such a talented player, especially in an attacking position.

Team setup should benefit all attackers

Chelsea’s predicted lineup against Copenhagen.

With Jadon Sancho likely to start on the left, this setup would then mean Christopher Nkunku playing in his preferred position in the hole. That should suit him too. He was terrible leading the line and not much better on the left wing – but we all know how good he is when used correctly.

Perhaps we will use this game to stumble across a really potent attacking setup that carries us through the next few weeks until Nicolas Jackson returns? That really would be good use of a competition that has until now been more of a weekly high intensity fitness session for the B team.