Chelsea vs Palmeiras – Team News: Maresca makes some surprising changes | OneFootball

Chelsea face Palmeiras in the Club World Cup in just over an hour, with a place in the semi-finals on the line and the teams are in!

We thought we had a bit of a handle on what Enzo Maresca was thinking for the season ahead, but this team has thrown all that out of the window again.

In goal we have Robert Sanchez. Not a popular decision, but one we expected.

Beyond that, there’s a lot that fans will dislike. Maresca returns to the Levi Colwill – Trevoh Chalobah combination at centre back which we thought he was trending towards in general, until he used Benoit Badiashile in the last game. Clearly his mind still isn’t made up.

Marc Cucurella plays at left back, and Malo Gusto at right back. Why is the out of form Frenchman being used there? Well, because Reece James has been deployed in midfield to make up for the suspended Moises Caicedo.

The absence of Caicedo can’t be helped. The use of James in midfield can be. We know that Romeo Lavia isn’t fit for this game – hence him not even featuring on the bench. But the fact that Maresca still doesn’t trust Dario Essugo or Andrey Santos to fill in for the Ecuadorian is frustrating.

Moving James out of his best position is something Blues fans hate to see.

In the front line, Christopher Nkunku makes a surprise return, as does Pedro Neto after he missed training yesterday following the tragic deal of his close friend Diogo Jota.

Liam Delap leads the line – we were expecting Nicolas Jackson to start after his suspension.

Here are the full team line-ups for Palmeiras vs Chelsea (kick off at 02:00 GMT)

CHELSEA:

Chelsea’s team news for the Club World Cup semi final against Palmeiras.

Major changes in a big game

All of that adds up to a lot of changes for a big game. A gamble?