Why Moises Caicedo and Esetvao are on the bench for Chelsea against Nottingham Forest

Moises Caicedo starts on the bench for Chelsea in their Premier League clash against Nottingham Forest.

The Ecuador international has been in stunning form this season, scoring a sensational long range strike in the victory over Liverpool prior to the international break.

But the Ecuador international is only deemed fit enough for the bench this afternoon with Andrey Santos and Romeo Lavia starting in midfield at the City Ground.

Enzo Fernandez meanwhile misses out altogether after picking up a knee issue while on international duty with Argentina.

Pedro Neto does start despite doubts over his availability this week.

Chelsea have not won a Premier League game without Caicedo in the starting XI since he signed for the club from Brighton in 2023.

Caicedo was among three players not to train on Friday with Maresca explaining in his pre-match press conference: ‘They [Caicedo, Fernandez and Neto] didn’t take part in the session yesterday, but we will see if they can train today.

Otherwise, they would be out for tomorrow.’

Having not trained on Friday, Caicedo has only been deemed fit enough for the bench..

Speaking ahead of kick-off, Maresca played down the severity of the knock keeping Fernandez out of the side and hopes to have him available again ‘very soon’.

‘No, it is not a big concern,’ Maresca told TNT Sports. ‘Hopefully he can be back very soon.

‘It’s not just about Enzo and Moi. We need to try and find a different solution. We are going to try to find a solution.’

Estevao Willian, who scored the dramatic late winner over Liverpool, is another only fit enough for the bench after his excursions with Brazil during the international break.

‘He has already started games for us. He came back from a long trip from Brazil so we need to manage it,’ Maresca said.

‘We have six or seven games until the next break. For sure he is going to play but he already showed he can play from the start.’