7 Chelsea players entering burnout zone unlikely to start this weekend | OneFootball

We’re halfway through the season now, and we’ve seen a definite slowdown from Chelsea in the last few games.

The Blues went from 8 wins in a row in all competitions to 4 games without a win. It’s not just the results which are worse – those lesser performances seem to be a result of fatigue creeping into a squad which was blowing opposition sides away with freshness and speed alone in the early months of the season.

So which players are most at risk of burning out?

Moises Caicedo and Cole Palmer have made 20 starts this season, playing 1775 and 1747 minutes respectively.

They’re following by Levi Colwill and Marc Cucurella on 1714 and 1709. That group of 4 are the only players who have been first choice all season, and available for almost every game.

The next tier down has Enzo Fernandez, Nicolas Jackson and Malo Gusto, all players who we could fairly say have dropped off a little since starting the season strong. Interestingly, they’re also 3 players without easy replacements in the squad, with Romeo Lavia and Reece James consistently injured and Marc Guiu only recently earning the trust of Enzo Maresca to play some Premier League minutes.

Chelsea starters crying out for some rotation

Chelsea players and manager Enzo Maresca in a montage. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Palmer is too good to drop – but there are at least plenty of players who can play in his position.

Caicedo is hugely at risk because only Lavia can really play in a similar way (and even then, it’s not like for like). Colwill also is going to have to keep starting while the rest of our back line struggle with injuries.

The return of Reece James should make a big difference to the squad in terms of resting Gusto.

We wonder if Maresca is seeing the same thing and is willing to reduce his aversion to rotation and substitution?