Enzo Maresca confirms ‘incredible’ Chelsea player is not available to face Tottenham

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Chelsea fans will not need reminding how important the fixture against one of their biggest rivals is in any season, especially one they are performing so well in.

Enzo Maresca will be keen to make it five wins in a row in all competitions since the international break, and tighten their grip on second place in the Premier League.

Cole Palmer himself has ruled Chelsea out of a title race at the moment, however a win against Tottenham on Sunday won’t quieten talk around them that they are a serious force at the top end of the table this season.

Enzo Maresca says Mykhailo Mudryk is still ill ahead of Chelsea vs Tottenham

The manager had the chance to rotate his side heavily for the 5-1 win over Southampton on Wednesday night, meaning a number of key players will be fresh for the London derby on Sunday.

The Blues have been relatively lucky with availability as of late, however one notable absentee from the trip to the South Coast was Mykhailo Mudryk.

Maresca confirmed that Mudryk was ill, and therefore unable to feature in a game which may have done his confidence the world of good.

It doesn’t look as if the Ukraine international has been able to shake off that issue, with the manager stating in his pre-match press conference that he was still suffering.

He said: “Both [James and Fofana] are slowly getting better. It is a matter of weeks. The only one that is still ill is Misha and the rest are okay.”

Madueke and Sancho star vs Southampton

Mudryk has enjoyed his time playing in the Conference League this season, however that has translated into just one Premier League start so far under the new manager.

The winger is still held in high regard in his home country. Georgiy Sudakov has previously described Mudryk as ‘incredible’.

It may well have been hard for him to force himself back into the line-up this weekend anyway given the impressive form of the wingers at Chelsea’s disposal.

Both Noni Madueke and Jadon Sancho found the net on Wednesday, while Pedro Neto has been a serious threat no matter which side he has featured on.