Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has provided an injury update on several players before the upcoming match against Leicester City, including on central striker Nicolas Jackson.
Chelsea host Leicester on Sunday afternoon in a Premier League match, which is a battle between Enzo Maresca and his former club.
The Blues go into this weekend’s fixtures sitting 5th in the Premier League table, while opponents Leicester are 19th and staring at the prospect of relegation this season.
Chelsea midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who joined from Leicester last summer, will hope to be involved against his boyhood club. However, Chelsea fans criticised Dewsbury-Hall’s performance in Thursday night’s 2-1 away win at Copenhagen in the Conference League.
Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea injury update ahead of Leicester fixture
Ahead of Chelsea’s league fixture with Leicester, Maresca did share plenty of updates regarding the fitness of several Blues players.
Wesley Fofana is available for selection on the weekend, while Romeo Lavia is back in training. Elsewhere, Nicolas Jackson, Noni Madueke, Marc Guiu and Aaron Anselmino remain sidelined with their respective injury problems.
It’s encouraging to hear that Chelsea striker Jackson is back running on the grass, but he’s not expected back until after March’s international break.
“Wes [Fofana] is training with us and he has been for more than 10 days now, so he is back and can be involved,’ Maresca said via Chelsea’s official website.
“Romeo [Lavia] has also started to work with us. This is good news but we have to be patient with him, because he is still quite far away from being 100 per cent fit and ready.
“But he is starting to work with us again and this is good news. The rest are the same as before, there is no update on those players – Nicolas [Jackson], Noni [Madueke], Marc [Guiu] and Aaron [Anselmino] – they are all out still.
“Nico has started to do some running outside which is good but I don’t think there is any change with his status, we are still looking at after the international break for him [before returning].”
Jackson hasn’t played since 3 February against West Ham because of a hamstring problem, which has left a significant void in the Chelsea team.
According to Paul Merson, Jackson’s absence has impacted Cole Palmer in a negative way. The injured 23-year-old star isn’t a clinical goalscorer yet, but he brings so much to the team with his work on and off the ball.
| Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| 23 | 9 | 5 |
Pedro Neto should start at striker vs Leicester
In the absence of Jackson versus Leicester, Pedro Neto should be picked to lead the line again. The Portuguese attacker should be fresh and ready to start because he was an unused substitute on Thursday against Copenhagen.
We’ve seen in Neto’s last two appearances for Chelsea him playing more centrally rather than on the wing, which has worked out superbly well.
| Match | Minutes played | Goals | Assists | Match rating |
| Chelsea 4-0 Southampton | 68 | 1 | 1 | 8.3 |
| Aston Villa 2-1 Chelsea | 90 | 0 | 1 | 7.5 |
Neto admits he likes playing striker, especially because it’s less running for him than on the wing. He certainly looks like the best option to play centrally in the contest against Leicester.
