“Start him alongside Cole Palmer” – Pochettino told to hand 12-years-old- Chelsea man first PL start of the season against Aston Villa
This evening, Chelsea will return to Premier League action as they depart London to play Aston Villa, led by Unai Emery.
After a poor night on Tuesday at The Emirates against Arsenal, Mauricio Pochettino will be expecting for an immediate response from his team.
After the Gunners thrashed the Blues 5-0, with former Chelsea attacker Kai Havertz scoring twice, the Argentine manager may want to make several changes to the starting lineup from that game.
Due to illness, Cole Palmer was unable to play in the loss to Arsenal, but he has been seen returning to training ahead of this match at Villa Park, suggesting that he might be ready to make a comeback.
One player who will need to be replaced in the XI, however, is central midfielder Enzo Fernandez after the club confirmed that he will miss the rest of the season.
The Argentina international has undergone successful surgery on a knee injury and will now start to prepare to be fit for the 2024/25 campaign.
Pochettino must now finally unleash young whiz Cesare Casadei from the start for the first time in the Premier League to replace Fernandez, whilst also bringing Palmer straight back into the team.
The Chelsea boss could drop Noni Madueke from the starting XI to unleash the England international on the right flank, with Conor Gallagher keeping his place in the middle and Mykhailo Mudryk starting on the left flank.
Signed from Dutch side PSV at the start of last year, the left-footed whiz has failed to nail down a regular starting spot for the club on either flank.
As you can see in the table above, Madueke has not made a consistent impact in the final third, with three direct goal contributions in 17 games, whilst Palmer has been in sensational form.
The ex-Manchester City starlet has been a revelation in the Premier League this season with his sublime return of goals and assists for the Blues.
He has chalked up a staggering 20 goals and nine assists in 28 league matches, including 23 starts, which means that the left-footed star has been directly involved in more than one goal per game.