Maresca provides Fofana & Cucurella fitness updates after Chelsea changes in Aston Villa loss
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Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has provided some fitness updates on key duo Wesley Fofana and Marc Cucurella after Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa.
Maresca's decision to bench Fofana certainly raised some eyebrows, especially given how important the match was.
Fofana and Trevoh Chalobah have been Chelsea's primary centre-back pairing this season, and they have helped the team keep several clean sheets in recent weeks.
Instead, Maresca decided to pair Chalobah with Benoit Badiashile, who made his third Premier League start this season.
Maresca confirmed that it was simply a load management decision.
"We have another game in 72 hours, so we need to manage Wes," the Italian said about Fofana's absence from the starting line-up before the game.
"He’s an important player for us. We have so many games that, for sure, all of them are going to play games."
This likely confirms that Fofana will start in the upcoming home match against Bournemouth on Tuesday.
Another Maresca decision that faced some criticism is Cururella's substitution in the second half.
The Spain international played quite well, so the decision to replace him with Malo Gusto, who is a right back, came as a surprise.
Apparently, Cucurella felt some discomfort in his thigh during the game.
"Because he was complaining about his hamstring, so we don't know if it's an injury now or not," Maresca said after the game when asked about Cucurella's substitution.
"So he asked for the change."
Liam Delap and Estevao also made their injury returns as substitutes in this game, although, unfortunately, they could not help Chelsea prevent another home defeat.
Gerry Crisandy is a freelance writer who has covered Chelsea for many years. His work has been published on The Chelsea Chronicle and Pride of London. He grew up idolising Michael Ballack and is a firm believer in expected goals.