Maresca surprises everyone with this Chelsea selection – but could have a reverse plan in mind | OneFootball

Chelsea’s team for today’s game against Fulham has managed to surprise everyone not by changing – but by remaining the same.

After a disappointing draw with Everton at the weekend where the team looked a little tired for the first time this season, most people expected there to be major changes today. We’re in the most hectic period of the season, and Enzo Maresca has tons of great options, especially in attack.

Yet the team is the same as the one that drew at Goodison Park – only Marc Cucurella’s return from suspension alters the team. This has a lot of fans worried. Injury risk is mounting up, you’ve got players unhappy about not getting the minutes they want, and we’ve seen with our eyes fatigue starting to set in. Ignoring all that and picking a team that struggled just days ago isn’t what anyone expected.

Maresca may have a different plan in mind

Enzo Maresca oversees training. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)

Before we get too frustrated, we should consider the idea that Maresca is trying something different. Perhaps sensing the chance to use the home crowd today to get goals and then use his changes to see the game out and starting resting, Maresca may be planning to squeeze the last juice out of his first XI today and then make the major rotations for Monday’s game against Ipswich – who we should be able to beat even with a changed side.

Those playing today would then have 9 days to rest before we play Crystal Palace in our first game of 2026. They could be handed a full 2 or 3 days holiday and still have time to build up for that game.

Surely Maresca – a man blessed with an exceptional squad in terms of depth and talent – isn’t planning on just running his favourite XI players into the ground with 4 games in two weeks.