Enzo Fernandez is likely to start for Chelsea when they take on Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup later.
Enzo Fernandez was on the bench for Chelsea‘s last fixture, which was also against Newcastle United, with the Blues coming out as 2-1 victors.
Enzo Maresca left Fernandez on the bench for Chelsea’s previous Premier League game as well, a 2-1 defeat to Liverpool, so it looks like the midfielder has lost his place in the team.
Paul Merson believes Fernandez is the best passer Chelsea have, but there has been no room for him in the side of late.
Chelsea better without Enzo Fernandez?
Fernandez cost Chelsea more than £100m and is a World Cup winner, yet they actually perform better when he is not in the team.
According to Transfermarkt, Chelsea’s win rate when the 23-year-old starts is just 35%. However, when he is not in the first XI, that number jumps up all the way to 81%.
That does not make for good reading if you are Fernandez or one of the bosses at Stamford Bridge. They invested so much money in him, yet the team look stronger when he is not playing.
Given that Fernandez did cost so much, the club are not going to give up on him so easily. But Maresca is not taking any prisoners and has shown that he is not afraid to drop the Argentine despite his massive price tag.
Enzo Fernandez should be benched
For the time being, Fernandez should be a substitute for Chelsea. Unless Maresca’s side are playing really poor Premier League opposition who are not going to come out of defence, the Chelsea manager should stick with his pivot of Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia.
You would expect him to do just that when his men travel to Old Trafford on Sunday to face Manchester United.
It is a pivot that got the job done against Newcastle and may be needed again very soon.
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