Chelsea will be bolstered by the return of midfielder Romeo Lavia as they seek their first Premier League home win of the season against Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.
Lavia, who last played in Chelsea’s only league defeat this season—a 2-0 loss to Manchester City—had been sidelined with a hamstring injury sustained in training.
The 20-year-old joined from Southampton in August 2023 but made only one substitute appearance last season due to injury issues.
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“Romeo Lavia is available for tomorrow; the only player missing is Reece James, and there’s no real update on him,” Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca said on Friday. “We’ll see if Lavia can play the full 90 minutes after our last training session, but it’s great to have him back.”
Maresca has plenty of attacking options, especially after Nicolas Jackson scored twice against West Ham last weekend and Christopher Nkunku netted a hat-trick in their 5-0 League Cup victory over Barrow.
The coach will need to decide who will lead the attack against Brighton, but he also acknowledged the strong performances from players like Pedro Neto and Mykhailo Mudryk.
“All of them performed well. It’s crucial that whenever they get a chance—whether it’s five minutes or from the start—they give their all. We can’t have too many attacking players on the pitch without maintaining defensive balance,” he emphasized.
Following the match against Brighton, Chelsea will face Belgian side Gent in the Europa Conference League on October 3 and will host Nottingham Forest in the league three days later.
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