Opinion

Enzo Maresca should start ‘special’ Chelsea player vs Wolves, he was so good on Thursday

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Chelsea take on Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux later, looking to pick up their first points of the season.

Chelsea lost their Premier League opener 2-0 against Manchester City last Sunday but managed to bounce back with a win in the Conference League on Thursday.

The Blues beat Servette 2-0 in the first leg of their play-off tie, with Enzo Maresca making several changes.

One of those changes included summer signing Tosin Adarabioyo coming into the side to make his Chelsea debut, and Maresca should be starting him again for the game versus Wolves.

Chelsea v Servette FC - UEFA Europa Conference League Play-Off 1st Leg
Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images

Tosin Adarabioyo’s performance against Servette

Servette will not be the hardest team Chelsea play this season, but the Swiss outfit did not give the Blues an easy game at Stamford Bridge.

Maresca’s side did not play well in the first half, not grabbing their two goals until the second 45 minutes, with one coming from the spot. Adarabioyo’s first-half performance, though, was pretty good. In fact, his overall display was quite impressive.

The central defender was actually the second-highest rated Chelsea player on Sofascore, earning a 7.8 match rating.

According to the same website, he made eight clearances, blocked three shots and won all three of his aerial duels. It should have given the new Chelsea manager something to really think about heading into this weekend.

Enzo Maresca likely to start Wesley Fofana

Wesley Fofana and Levi Colwill were the two central defenders who started in Chelsea’s first Premier League fixture of the season against City.

Both were rested on Thursday, with Maresca keen to manage Fofana’s minutes. The 23-year-old struggled with a really bad injury last term, failing to play a single minute during the campaign.

Having sat out of the Servette game, you would now expect Fofana to return to the starting line-up for the Wolves match.

However, if Adarabioyo does manage to retain his spot in the team, it would not be unjust. Described as a “special player” by his former boss Marco Silva (via beIN SPORTS), the 26-year-old has made a good early impression in blue.