'Unfortunately' - Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca struggling for answer to Man Utd tactic Ruben Amorim will deploy
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca is short of options at number nine ahead of Manchester United’s visit to Stamford Bridge
Manchester United head to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea on Friday night in their final Premier League outing before the Europa League final against Tottenham Hotspur.
The Red Devils face Spurs in Bilbao on Wednesday night with not much riding on their visit to West London as they languish in the bottom third of the table. Chelsea are battling the likes of Manchester City, Newcastle United and Aston Villa for a place in the top five.
With the Europa League confirmed as an all-English final, there will be six Premier League teams in the Champions League next campaign and both United and City will hope to be among those.
Enzo Maresca will be eager for all three points in what his Chelsea’s final home game of the season, as they face a tough trip to Nottingham Forest on the final day in a fixture that could define the top-five race.
Enzo Maresca struggling for answer to Manchester United tactic
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca admits he is struggling for an answer to his lack of options in the striker department. Nicolas Jackson is suspended after being handed a straight red card at Newcastle last weekend.
On Thursday, Maresca confirmed Christopher Nkunku and Marc Guiu would not be fit enough to feature against United. It leaves the former Leicester City boss without a recognised striker for the contest - and he admits playing against a back five will make things difficult.
“When playing against a line of five, I prefer to have a ‘real’ nine because you need to attack behind, you need that threat,” he said.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have that so we need to find a solution. I like a ‘false’ nine when we face a line of four, because you can link a little more. But against five defenders, you need people running in behind. But it is what it is, and we need to find a different solution.”
Amorim likes to play with three centre-backs, along with two wing-backs and is incredibly unlikely to deviate from his usual tactic.
What Enzo Maresca has said about Chelsea’s team news against Manchester United
Maresca will not be able to call upon Jadon Sancho for the game as the forward is ineligible to play against his parent club. Reece James is poised to be available after suffering from illness earlier in the week.
Giving a team news update, Maresca said in his pre-match press conference: “Christo [Nkunku] is still out. Reece James is now okay, he was out with illness for two [training] sessions. Yesterday he had a session with us, which is good.
“We don’t have Nico [Jackson] for this game and we are working on that. These are the options we have, unfortunately we don’t have many options [to play as a striker].”
Chelsea and United played out a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford earlier in the season. The Red Devils, then under the interim management of Ruud van Nistelrooy, took the lead via a Bruno Fernandes penalty but Moises Caicedo fired in a fine volley to rescue a draw for the Blues.