Enzo Maresca will be delighted as two Chelsea players are snubbed from international call-up

Add as preferred source on Google

The Chelsea squad are beginning to be hit by a mountain of injury problems to start the season, however the upcoming international break could be a chance for some to get some well-deserved rest.

Unfortunately for Enzo Maresca, he faces the issue that a large amount of his players are usually selected to represent their countries, and will be away from Cobham for the majority of the two weeks.

There will be hope in the Blues camp that maybe Moises Caicedo will not be selected by Ecuador. He was sent off in his last game for his country.

The South Americans are always the ones affected most during this time, given the large amount of distance they have to travel to compete in their games.

Joao Pedro and Andrey Santos not selected by Brazil

Chelsea have a large contingent of Brazilians in their squad, with Estevao Willian, Joao Pedro and Andrey Santos all being involved for their nations’ last time around.

However, Maresca reported Santos had sustained an injury, and in turn he has not been selected by Brazil.

Pedro is not in Carlo Ancelotti’s squad either, meaning the only Brazilian the club are losing is Estevao, which is par for the course when it comes to one of the most exciting talents in the country.

Pedro will be heavily relied upon when Chelsea face Liverpool on Saturday, and will be looking to make up for the fact that he was sent off in their Champions League victory against Benfica.

Heavy workload on Pedro right now

Despite not necessarily being signed to play in the striker role, that is the position where the former Brighton man has racked up the majority of his minutes so far for Chelsea.

Liam Delap has been injured for the majority of the campaign so far, and the manager seems to not fancy playing Marc Guiu despite his recall from loan at Sunderland.

A lot is being asked of Pedro, who did enjoy a strong start to the season in terms of goals and assists but hasn’t contributed much recently.

This is likely down to the magnitude of time Chelsea have been playing with 10 men of late. They saw red cards heavily impact the result against both Manchester United and Brighton.