What this week will tell us about Chelsea’s £200m fitness headache

The international break’s final games always take place on a Wednesday – but Chelsea’s two South American midfield stars end up playing late in the evening, finishing on Thursday morning and then having a long trip home.

Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo are always going to be questionable to play after an international break where they travel, and this week is no different. They both played last night and will today be rushed back across the Atlantic.

This is going to be a perennial problem – we had a taste of it last year, but the addition of European football to the club’s calendar this year is going to make it that much worse. The two £100m men will have to be managed very carefully, and we get our first clues about how that will work on Saturday.

Perhaps that’s why Chelsea made sure to invest in backup this summer in the form of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. So far, the midfielder has struggled for minutes, playing just 38 of a possible 270 in the Premier League. But from this Sunday, the schedule really goes up a gear.

Maresca’s challenge to juggle player fitness

With Romeo Lavia’s status uncertain, the most likely setup seems to be either Fernandez or Caicedo not starting, with Dewsbury-Hall coming into the team to replace whichever is considered closer to the “red zone” in terms of fatigue. He can then play the full 90, while a rested option from the South American pair can split the minutes of the other midfield role.

It will be an interesting test of what Enzo Maresca thinks of the options available to him. Dewsbury-Hall is a player he knows well, but the Leicester connection hasn’t really helped the midfielder shine yet. If he can’t get a Premier League start this week, he could be waiting a while.