Jadon Sancho could be farmed out to right wing as he tumbles from starter to spare piece in just a couple of weeks | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca is set to take his press conference this afternoon previewing tomorrow’s game against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup, and there are some topics we’re really interested to hear covered.

After an early part of the season where the coach picked a very defined XI in the league, and a very different one in the cup, recent suspensions and rests have meant that that natural balance has been disrupted.

We’ve seen Romeo Lavia, Reece James and Pedro Neto effectively join the first team, at the expense of Enzo Fernandez, Marc Cucurella and Jadon Sancho.

None of those 3 started against the Magpies at the weekend, ergo we expect them to start tonight in the EFL Cup game against the same opposition.

Not only that, they also now become very aware that they are fighting for – and losing the fight for – their place in the team.

That gives extra motivation, and hopefully inspired an extra good performance. They all know they’re playing for their starting role, as well as their long term future.

Mykhailo Mudryk celebrates a goal for Chelsea against Panathinaikos. (Photo by Milos Bicanski/Getty Images)

Maresca with difficult Mudryk vs. Sancho call to decide

We expect Maresca to be asked about all of them to some degree. They’ve had their moment as starters, now the Italian coach thinks he can do better with different players arranged in a different way. Sancho is perhaps the most at risk, and Mykhailo Mudryk played really well a week ago in the Conference League, and is also a left winger.

We wonder if we could see Mudryk wide left and then Sancho down the right? That’s about the only way to squeeze them both in, although it might not really suit Sancho, who must be gutted to see how quickly his star has faded after starting strong as a Maresca favourite.