Article body analysed
By KIERAN GILL, MAIL SPORT REPORTER Published: 20: 02 AEST, 12 September 2025 | Updated: 20: 02 AEST, 12 September 2025 3 View comments Enzo Maresca has laid bare his bundle of ‘question marks’ before Chelsea’s trip to Brentford, saying half of his team are fighting to be fit for their Saturday night clash amid injuries and international duty issues. Cole Palmer only trained partially with his team-mates on Thursday for the first time since his groin issue, on the same day that all of Maresca’s South American stars returned from international duty. Joao Pedro, Estevao Willian and Andrey Santos were unable to train fully after being away with Brazil, while Moises Caicedo likewise only returned from Ecuador duty later in the evening. Maresca added Liam Delap will be sidelined for up to 12 weeks after injuring his hamstring while Dario Essugo is set to miss the next months after undergoing surgery on his thigh. Levi Colwill is likewise going to skip most of this season after an ACL injury. Chelsea had a training session scheduled for Friday afternoon but Maresca, speaking to the assembled media on the morning, appeared unsure who could participate fully. ‘Cole took part yesterday for the first time, not the entire session, ’ he said. ‘Today in the afternoon we have one more session. We’re going to try with him, if he's okay, otherwise he will be out tomorrow again. Liam is around 10 to 12 weeks, so he has a long way to go. Enzo Maresca says half of his Chelsea team are battling fitness issues heading into Brentford Make your 7 picks by 12. 30pm every Saturday to win £1, 000* Manchester City V Manchester United *18+, excludes NI. Terms and conditions apply Cole Palmer is one of many injury doubts for the beleaguered Blues boss ‘The three Brazilian players (Joao Pedro, Estevao, Santos) arrived yesterday. They didn't train. They did some recovery session. Moises arrived last night, so I didn't see him. I will see him today. ‘For all of them, it's a question mark for tomorrow. When they play in Bolivia, it's so difficult that they can be back very soon. ’ Meanwhile, Maresca has a decision to make up front as he sees Marc Guiu, who was recalled from his season-long loan to Sunderland, as his only true No 9 replacement for Delap. ‘Joao Pedro also can play there, ’ he added. ‘Against Fulham, we used Tyrique (George) as a No 9, so we can also think about him. ’ On Chelsea’s 74 charges, Maresca commented: 'I know from the club that they are satisfied about the situation, about the process. Personally, I don't have anything to add. ‘First of all, because I don't have any idea, to be honest. So if I say something, I can probably be wrong or right, but I don't have any idea. I just focus on the pitch side, something that I can control. ’
Share what you think
The comments below have not been moderated.
The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of Mail Online.
By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your Mail Online comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to Mail Online as usual. Do you want to automatically post your Mail Online comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to Mail Online as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on Mail Online. To do this we will link your Mail Online account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy. Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd