Former Premier League star Stuart Dallas admits he wouldn’t like playing against two Chelsea players

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A huge tick to put by Chelsea in the opening months of the season is that there’s partnerships developing all over the pitch.

Enzo Maresca has picked a pretty consistent team since he became Chelsea manager in the summer, which has allowed several on-field connections to emerge.

For instance, Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo are beginning to shine together as the central midfield pivot. Chelsea star Lavia claims he’s had a great relationship with Caicedo since day one.

Elsewhere, Blues stars Wesley Fofana and Levi Colwill are growing and improving as the main centre-back combination. There’s been some great attacking work between Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson, too.

• READ MORE: Micah Richards claims two Chelsea players have an ‘absolutely brilliant’ partnership together

Stuart Dallas hails Chelsea duo Marc Cucurella and Pedro Neto

Former Premier League star Stuart Dallas, who’s now retired, has highlighted a Chelsea combination that he wouldn’t have enjoyed facing.

He thinks that the Blues have a really impressive left-hand side with Marc Cucurella and Pedro Neto.

Dallas said on Ben Foster’s YouTube channel: “He (Cucurella) has come on massively because I think there were question marks about him when he first signed, a lot of pressure as well. He is a good player, obviously. Neto in front of him as well. It’s two I wouldn’t fancy playing against.”

During Chelsea’s 1-1 Premier League draw at home to Arsenal on Sunday, Cucurella started the contest at left-back, while Neto played in front of him on the left wing. It was a combination that kept Arsenal’s right-winger Bukayo Saka fairly quiet as well before Neto swapped wings and ended up scoring the Blues equaliser.

Cucurella might be undroppable right now for Chelsea because of what he offers at left-back, which is huge aggression in defending and great energy to support attacks.

Meanwhile, Neto’s also entered a purple patch of form lately to force his way into the starting XI for the Premier League. Micah Richards would rather Neto started on the right wing rather than the left for Chelsea.

Chelsea players on international duty

Cucurella and Neto are both away on international duty during this two-week period with Spain and Portugal, respectively. However, some Chelsea stars have already dropped out to return to the club.

Cole Palmer and Levi Colwill (England), along with Wesley Fofana (France), have dropped out of their international camps to return to Cobham.

Here is a look at the Blues players still with their senior national sides:

• Pedro Neto (Portugal)
• Joao Felix (Portugal)
• Renato Veiga (Portugal)
• Noni Madueke (England)
• Christopher Nkunku (France)
• Marc Cucurella (Spain)
• Robert Sanchez (Spain)
• Enzo Fernandez (Argentina)
• Romeo Lavia (Belgium)
• Nicolas Jackson (Senegal)
• Moises Caicedo (Ecuador)
• Mykhailo Mudryk (Ukraine)

Chelsea midfielder Lavia admits he’s undergoing a fitness check with Belgium, but he’s expecting to be okay.