Chelsea were unable to extend their winning streak to five in their final game before the international break at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues drew 1-1 with Nottingham Forest and it was mainly Noni Madueke who got them back into the game. Manager Enzo Maresca will need to get
creative in selecting his team for the first game after the break, when the Blues travel to Anfield to take on Liverpool.
Marc Cucurella and Wesley Fofana were already ruled out after picking up their fifth yellow cards of the season. There will be some concern that the milestone
was achieved after just seven league games, with Robert Sanchez publicly urging his teammates to stop talking back to referees. The Spaniard in
particular has been a key player in Maresca’s system and is likely to be replaced by 21-year-old Renato Veiga in two weeks’ time.
The Portuguese star has impressed in his limited appearances so far, scoring a goal in last week’s Conference League win over Gent.
But a game against the league leaders would be his biggest moment of club football and a chance to prove he can already be considered a Premier League
regular – provided, of course, that he survives the international break injury-free. The versatile defender has been named in Portugal’s squad alongside Pedro Neto and Joao Felix.
Meanwhile, Fofana is likely to be replaced by Tosin Adarabioyo, who has been knocking on the door of Premier League starts recently thanks to his
performances in a Chelsea shirt. A video surfaced after the match of the 23-year-old hitting opposition defender Morato with a slap during a scuffle between the two teams.
Jackson is reportedly waiting to see if he will be given a retroactive ban as a result of the incident. But there may be some light in the fact that the incident was
noted by VAR at the time but not deemed sufficient to justify a sending-off, according to journalist Kieran Gill.
“VAR reportedly reviewed Nicolas Jackson Morato’s ‘slap’ but determined it was not an act of violence by the Chelsea striker,” he said.
