Chelsea decided to make 11 changes to their side to face the same opponents they had beaten just four days before in the Premier League.
Enzo Maresca has shown a lot of faith in his fringe players in cup competitions, however they had let him down last night as they lost 2-0 to Newcastle United.
After dropping out of the starting side for Premier League games recently, Enzo Fernandez was given another chance to prove that he should be back in the side shortly.
Maresca was slightly critical of Fernandez’s performance, however he was certainly not the only one who failed to impress last night.
There were a number of poor performances at the back. Benoit Badiashile’s poor pass sent Newcastle on their way for the opening goal.
Enzo Fernandez splits up fight between Benoit Badiashile and Joelinton
Badiashile impressed in Europe last week, however could not keep his strong form up against the tougher Premier League opposition.
There was a moment the Frenchman became entangled in an altercation with Joelinton, with one of his Chelsea teammates needing to step in and split things up.
Bobby Vincent said: “Joelinton is furious with Badiashile here. Enzo Fernandez plays peacemaker.”
Chelsea to face Manchester United without Erik ten Hag
The defender was notably in an ongoing feud with Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez when the two sides met a couple of weeks ago, and it seems he got on the wrong side of another opponent last night.
Badiashile will have been hoping to impress Maresca to the point where he would have considered bringing him in to the side when they make the trip to Old Trafford on Sunday.
Chelsea’s game against Manchester United just got a lot harder after the sacking of Erik ten Hag, with the home crowd likely to be up for things in their new era.
It now looks even more likely that it will be a defensive partnership of Levi Colwill and Wesley Fofana for the Blues after no one took their chance last night.
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