Chelsea will be hoping to hold onto their spot in the Premier Leaguetop four when they host Ipswich Town at Stamford Bridge on Sunday at 2pm.
Chelsea predicted lineup vs Ipswich
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; Gusto, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Madueke, Palmer, Neto; Jackson
Top five is actually enough to secure Champions League football for next season, with the Premier League now guaranteed to get one of the two extra spots. But there’s no difference between fourth and fifth in the Premier League right now.
Chelsea currently sit fourth, ahead of fifth-placed Newcastle United on goal difference. But the Magpies have a game in hand over the Blues. And sixth-placed Manchester City are only one point back. Chelsea cannot afford to be dropping points.
Chelsea team news vs Ipswich
There’s an interesting question about how Enzo Maresca approaches this game. Chelsea are 3-0 up on aggregate in their Europa Conference League quarter-final against Legia Warsaw, and may look to rotate for their second leg. So, we could see as full-strength a team as possible for Chelsea.
Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez were rested on Thursday for Chelsea’s Europa Conference League win so should return to the midfield here, replacing Reece James and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. But Caicedo is just one yellow card away from a two-game suspension, with this being the final match before the threshold is increased to 15. So Maresca might have that on his mind. But this game is expected to be too soon for Romeo Lavia.
Malo Gusto started at left-back for Chelsea with Marc Cucurella coming off the bench, but he should return to the right with the Spaniard starting. Maresca will surely want to avoid starting James in three consecutive matches, so the Chelsea captain should drop to the bench.
Levi Colwill and Trevoh Chalobah should return as centre-backs too, starting over Benoit Badiashile and Tosin Adarabioyo. Wesley Fofana has been ruled out for the rest of the season due to injury.
Cole Palmer is the only Chelsea attacker from Thursday likely to retain his place in the starting XI. Noni Madueke, Pedro Neto and Nicolas Jackson should all come into the starting lineup, ahead of Tyrique George, Jadon Sancho and Christopher Nkunku. Marc Guiu remains injured.
Robert Sanchez will start in goal, ahead of Filip Jorgensen.
The importance of Nicolas Jackson
Chelsea have been linked with a move for Ipswich striker Liam Delap in recent days, amid reports of a £30 million relegation clause in his contract. Maresca was asked about Delap in his pre-match press conference, and led onto explaining his ideal profile for a striker.
“My ...
