Chelsea face difficult Cole Palmer decision as Enzo Maresca considers rethink

Chelsea welcome Bournemouth to Stamford Bridge on Tuesday evening with Blues head coach Enzo Maresca tasked with some difficult selection decisions

There has been heaps of negative talk around Chelsea in the aftermath of their disappointing defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday evening but the Blues have an immediate opportunity to at least divert some of the attention away against Bournemouth on Tuesday.

Chelsea were seemingly in complete control of the fourth-vs-third showdown at the weekend, with the Blues going into the half-time break with a 1-0 advantage. It should have been more than that, too, which makes the second-half display even more frustrating.

Villa came out a different side, but so did Chelsea. Two goals from Ollie Wakins in front of the Shed End secured a crucial three points for the Premier League's unlikely title challengers.

With Bournemouth to come on Tuesday night, there could well be some rotation from Enzo Maresca. So, with that being said, Bobby Vincent takes a look at a few changes that could be made:

Palmer rest?

Cole Palmer was not pleased when he was walking off the pitch on Saturday evening. Just over 70 minutes in, Chelsea's No.10 was taken off in place of Estevao Willian and vented his frustration towards Maresca's assistant manager Danny Walker, with the head coach in the stands.

A shrug of the shoulders, a question for Walker and a smack of the back of his seat - Palmer was furious. The 23-year-old was by no means at his best against Aston Villa, a game Chelsea ended up losing 2-1 thanks to a strange second-half performance, but he looked like one of the more likely for the home side. One of his final attacking contributions was playing an assist-worthy pass across the face of goal that would have been put in by Alejandro Garnacho if John McGinn, who almost scored an own goal, did not get there slightly before.

Though Maresca's thinking could have been to take Palmer off early and have him available for selection for the Bournemouth match. The England international, along with his captain Reece James, will be assessed ahead of the visit of the Cherries, with Maresca keeping a close eye on the duo and their respective workloads.

There is a big game against Manchester City on the horizon, so there may be some temptation from Maresca's side to take Palmer out of the action on Tuesday. Estevao is waiting in the wings if that is the case.

Fofana to return

It seems almost certain that Wesley Fofana will return to the Chelsea back four for Tuesday evening's clash. The Frenchman was named on the bench for the defeat to Villa at the weekend and did not come on, with Maresca still managing the defender's workload.

Benoit Badiashile started in his place on Saturday and with the defender also one that repeatedly picks up muscular injuries, he is likely to make way for Fofana against the Cherries. Also, Fofana and Trevoh Chalobah have laid the foundations for a solid defensive partnership, with the duo keeping four clean sheets in their last six Premier League appearances alongside each other.

Cucurella doubtful

We await to discover whether Marc Cucurella is fit enough to take any part against Bournemouth. After speaking to Maresca in the aftermath of the Villa defeat, the Chelsea head coach was unable to confirm the type of injury the Spaniard had suffered, though he revealed it was his hamstring that was in pain on Saturday night.

For Chelsea and Cucurella's sake, hopefully he just felt something and it was not a serious injury. The Blues really need the Spain international, who is one of two recognised left-backs in the squad. Jorrel Hato is the other one and he is ruled out of the Bournemouth game after picking up a knock in the half-time warm-up in the draw with Newcastle United on December 20.

Malo Gusto can play on the left-hand side of defence, as can James. Gusto was the man tasked with filling in for Cucurella in the second-half of the defeat to Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge.