Chelsea fielded an XI worth more than £400m and won 8-0, but they could all be rejected for the Arsenal clash.

By premiernews On Nov 8, 2024

The Chelsea players' reward for their resounding 8-0 European victory will likely be a place on the bench for Sunday's clash against Arsenal.

The Blues continued their 100 percent start to the UEFA Conference League in style with a comfortable victory on Armenian minnows FC Noah at Stamford Bridge on Thursday.

Chelsea were in top scoring form during Thursday's 8-0 win over FC Noah.

In Chelsea's goal fest, six different players scored but, incredibly, none of them started in last Sunday's 1-1 draw at manchester united.

Few would argue that a team of Chelsea's stature, which lifted the Champions League just three and a half years ago, should not be playing in UEFA's third-tier competition.

but for the boss Enzo Maresca and its overinflated squad, the UEFA Conference League gives you the opportunity to play and develop your fringe players while keeping your first-choice names fresh for the Premier League.

It is a luxury that few can afford. Even champions city of manchester who find their squad threadbare due to a series of key injuries.

City's injury problems have resulted in a run of three consecutive defeats for the first time since April 2018, but the same cannot be said for Chelsea who appear to have overcome their own injury crisis.

Chelsea have made a lot of progress with Maresca this season and the first city of leicester The boss has quickly established a gameplay hierarchy that, on the surface, seems to be working… for now.

Chelsea and Chelsea's 'reserves' make up the majority of the first team squad and those playing on Thursday night will be hoping to impress to be called up to the weekend's matchday squad.

But it looks like even an 8-0 win won't stop Maresca from deviating from the old adage of “never changing a winning team.”

Sunday's crucial trip to the Emirates is likely to see the Maresca favorites take center stage once again with the likes of Cole Palmer, Nicholas JacksonNoni Madueke and Pedro Neto were ready to enter.

Christopher Nkuknu and Enzo Fernández are likely to be on the bench alongside Mykhailo Mudryk and Joao Felix equating to £352.3m in transfer fees for the quartet alone.

Coach Enzo Maresca seems to have a defined plan for his inflated team

The lineup changed a lot for the victory over FC Noah

In fact, Chelsea's much-changed starting XI against FC Noah was still worth around £400m.

Maresca's shame of riches is the envy of many, especially in a period when the bloated football calendar continues to create conflict between players, clubs, organizers and fans.

However, Chelsea seem to have found the right formula, judging by the results.

The Blues sit fourth in the Premier League table with 18 points from ten games and a win over the Gunners could see the west London club move up to third place.

It is a far cry from this stage last season, which saw Chelsea drop to 11th place with just 12 points for their efforts.

Chelsea had scored just 13 goals then, down from 20 this time, the third-highest tally in the league this season.

Joao Felix scored twice against FC Noah, but that is unlikely to guarantee him a starting spot against the Gunners.

Cole Palmer will return for the trip to the EmiratesCredit: Getty

Chelsea could keep the unchanged eleven from the Old Trafford draw

And confidence is high at Stamford Bridge ahead of Sunday's clash with Maresca's side taking on a wounded Arsenal side still reeling after back-to-back defeats.

The Gunners' energy-sapping midweek trip to Serie A champions Inter could give a fresh-legged Chelsea side an advantage.

Arsenal are likely to field a similar lineup to the one that took to the field at the San Siro and in the loss to Newcastle last Saturday.

The pressure is on the Gunners, who were expected to end their 20-year title drought this season, but find themselves seven points off the top and one place behind Maresca's improving team.

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