West Hamvs.Chelsea

At the same time as the Blues have worked hard to heavily reduce their squad, a wide array of fresh talent has arrived at Stamford Bridge.

There has been surprise at the amount of players that have been acquired for the final third, particularly when none are recognised central-forwards.

Pedro Neto, Jadon Sancho and Joao Felix have all been brought in by the club's recruitment team, Maresca now having eight attackers at his disposal.

Each of the aforementioned contingent are capable of being deployed in more than one role, an obvious benefit to Maresca when Chelsea are competing in four competitions.

Nevertheless, while speaking at a press conference on Friday, the Italian took the opportunity to provide clarity over the pecking order for the four positions.

Who will play where?

Maresca has seemingly decided to have two players for each position, even though some of his comments contradict where they have actually been used during the opening month of the season.

In terms of the right flank, Maresca suggested that Noni Madueke and Neto - who has been deployed on the left since his arrival from Wolverhampton Wanderers - are in direction competition.

Sancho will seemingly rival Mykhaylo Mudryk for the left-wing spot, that theoretically a hint that Maresca views the former as a regular starter.

Cole Palmer has sometimes been used on the right, yet the England international is in line to rival Felix for the number 10 role.

Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson will battle it out for the central-striker position, Maresca also admitting on Friday that Nkunku is not a fan of playing out wide.

Teenager Marc Guiu is third choice in that particular pecking order and should receive game time throughout the season.

Which four are likely to play against West Ham United?

After no game in midweek, Chelsea should be refreshed ahead of squaring off against West Ham United in Saturday's London derby.

Maresca could go a number of ways with his selection, but using Madueke, Palmer and Sancho as the trio behind Jackson appears to be the most likely combination.

That would allow Enzo Fernandez to slot back into the team alongside Moises Caicedo, rather than further forward where he has sometimes been used in 2024-25.