Enzo Maresca puts Robert Sanchez in his place, Cole Palmer injury plan, Reece James Chelsea risk

Enzo Maresca covered a number of topics in his pre-match press conference, including Cole Palmer's fitness, Reece James' availability, and the battle between the sticks

Enzo Maresca will hope Chelsea can pick up from where they left off when they face Qarabag in the UEFA Champions League. The Blues will face the Azerbaijani outfit at the Tofik Bahramov Stadium on Wednesday evening, and they're not set to return to the UK until Friday morning.

Fortunately, Chelsea aren't set to return to action in the Premier League until Saturday night, when they take on Wolves at Stamford Bridge. That said, the Club World Cup champions will be lucky to squeeze in a training session before the clash.

So, Maresca will be expected to make wholesale changes to his starting lineup in Baku as he looks to keep his squad fresh. With that being said, football.london has taken a look at the best bits from the Chelsea boss' pre-match press conference at Cobham.

James begins a new chapter

Maresca believes that the Chelsea captain is ready to increase his workload. Before Mauricio Pochettino was replaced by the Italian, Reece James suffered from a recurring hamstring injury, which later required surgery in December 2023.

He marked his return from the treatment room in the Blues' penultimate away game of the Premier League season, providing a crucial assist in a 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest. James did well to stay fit under Maresca until he was dealt a setback in November 2024, suffering another hamstring issue.

Since then, the England international has been carefully managed, establishing himself as a regular in the starting lineup again. With nearly 1,000 minutes already in the tank for club and country this season, Maresca believes James is ready to increase his workload.

"Reece is good – he's doing well," said the Chelsea boss. "He's fit 100 per cent. The way he behaves every game is top. Even when he's not playing, inside the changing room, the way with his teammates.

"Now, yes, I think he's going to play three games in a week. Also depends, I said many times, also depends on the way we use Reece. We didn't use him up and down.

"It's a big job for him, for Malo [Gusto], for any full-back to continue to do up and down. We use the full-back in a different way. Probably we also protect and save him in the way we try to play. I think he's ready to play three games in a week."

Maresca puts Sanchez in his place

Maresca has warned Robert Sanchez that he will be treated like everyone else despite his impressive performances this season. On if Filip Jorgensen could start against Qarabag, the Chelsea boss said: "He could be an option, yeah.

"It could be an option also because we need also both 'keepers ready. And at the end, we need to deal or treat with Robert also in the same way. We try to deal with different things."

Maresca added: "It's also true that I think Robert arrived again and he was playing from the beginning since the day he arrived here. I feel it's a bit different. He arrived here and joined our club knowing that Robert was the number one choice.

"But last year, he was playing all the Conference League games. We used him in the Premier League. We used him in the different competitions. And he is doing well this season.

"It's not easy for players in general, but it's even worse for goalkeepers when you don't play and you have to play some game because it's very difficult for a keeper."

Palmer eyes Barcelona return

Cole Palmer, who has been nursing a groin injury this season, could be back in time to face Barcelona at Stamford Bridge later this month. Maresca said: "We hope so, but with Cole we try to plan, we try to schedule, you know, at the beginning.

"Then we need to review that. So in this moment we go day by day with Cole. He's not taking any session with the team. And we have Benoit Badiashile that probably can be available after the international break and that is for us is a huge news."

Delap given fresh start

Liam Delap marked his return from the treatment room last week with a red card, but Maresca's ready to give the Chelsea striker a fresh start. The Blues boss said: "Yeah, Liam is back. He's an important player for us.

"He's an option for tomorrow. I said already many times that I don't have any doubt that at the end of the season, we're going to be very happy with Liam in terms of goals, in terms of also the way he works off the ball, how intense he is when we need to press.

"So, no doubt that is going to help us..."

Neto and Essugo ruled out

Pedro Neto and Dario Essugo have been ruled out of Chelsea's clash against Qarabag. The former has picked up a knock, while the latter is still nursing a muscle injury.

When quizzed on Neto, Maresca said: "Yeah, not a problem, just a small issue. So we try to protect him. He's not involved in tomorrow's game."

And, on Essugo, Maresca said: "No, I think he's still out for a while, probably, I don't know if the new year, I don't know, January, December, January. Not sure yet, but we are already in November."