Enzo Maresca confirms key Chelsea player unavailable for West Ham match

West Ham will face Chelsea at the London Stadium in a home fixture while coming on the back of an important 1-1 draw with Fulham. Although West Ham’s performance wasn't convincing throughout the match, they were playing without star forward Niclas Fullkrug, who is currently recovering from his injury. Moreover, Emerson also felt some discomfort in the second half of the Fulham match and had to be substituted with Vladimir Coufal.

Enzo Maresca confirms key Chelsea player unavailable for West Ham match

Therefore, the Italy international is less likely to face his former side in the upcoming fixture, and manager Julen Lopetegui will have to bring either Aaron Cresswell or Vladimir Coufal to the left-back position. However, Chelsea also have their star fullback, Reece James, unavailable due to a hamstring injury and won't feature in this game. Now, Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has confirmed that right-back Malo Gusto is also ruled out for the Blues, saying, 

"“In terms of players who aren’t available, Malo is still out and Reece is still out.”"

- Enzo Maresca

Therefore, Chelsea have both of their first-team right-backs unavailable for this match, and they will have to play either Marc Cucurella or Ben Chilwell to the right side of the defense. Hence, manager Julen Lopetegui should start Mohammed Kudus on the right wing, who can create several goalscoring chances from the right flank with his blistering pace and brilliant playmaking inside the final third. Also, West Ham needs to organize a rock-solid defense to avoid conceding early goals, as Enzo Maresca's side has a lot of quality in their front three with the likes of Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson, and Joao Felix. 

Thus, this is a massive fixture for the Hammers, and manager Julen Lopetegui needs to start a balanced lineup in this match to take some points from this home fixture. Also, it remains to be seen whether Danny Ings will start in this match as the center forward.