Chelsea

  3. Nicolas Jackson Chelsea

  4. Chelsea didn't force Palmer to withdraw from England duty - Maresca

    Nizaar Kinsella
    BBC Sport football news reporter

    Cole Palmer of Chelsea battling with Oliver Skipp of Leicester CityGetty Images

    Enzo Maresca says Cole Palmer wasn't under pressure to withdraw from England after playing 90 minutes for Chelsea either side of an international break he pulled out of.

    The 22-year-old was one of nine players, including Blues defender Levi Colwill, who pulled out of England's wins over Greece and Ireland this month.

    Three Lions captain Harry Kane recently criticised those who withdrew in an interview with ITV Sport, calling it "a shame" and accusing his compatriots of "taking advantage".

    When asked about Kane's comments in relation to Palmer, Maresca said: "It's a shame this week. Obviously I think it's a tough period of the season and maybe there's been a taking advantage of that a little bit. I don't really like it if I'm totally honest... I think England comes before anything."

    But when asked about those comments, after the 2-1 win away at Leicester City, the Chelsea manager said: "My reaction is that we finished the game 10 minutes ago, we won 2-1 and the rest, there is not any reaction, there are no comments. We finished the game 10 minutes ago.

    "I am not thinking about Harry Kane or what he's saying. I don't have any comments about this."

    And when pressed on whether he or Chelsea put pressure on Palmer, he continued: "Me? Absolutely not."

    Palmer struggled to excel at the King Power Stadium where Nicolas Jackson and Enzo Fernandez proved the match winners, taking a heavy challenge from Wilfred Ndidi in the first half.

    But Maresca refused to complain about the incident involving one of his former players, when asked whether it should have resulted in a red card, adding: "I don't think Cole is the target. I don't think that.

    "What I think, and I said after the Manchester United game, when there is bad intention, there has to be a different kind of punishment from the referee. I think Man United was bad intention.

    "I'm not saying Wilf [Ndidi] was bad intention because I love Wilf. Overall, when there is bad intention, I think the punishment has to be different."

    Maresca also confirmed Reece James is soon set for a scan after a hamstring problem and Malo Gusto pulled out of the match through illness overnight, with Pedro Neto picking up a knock on international.

  5. 'Overall we deserved to win'

    Chelsea's Italian head coach Enzo Maresca gestures on the touchlineGetty Images

    Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca to BBC Match of the Day: "Good performance. Overall we deserved to win. It was also a good game to learn many things.

    "For the first 30 minutes we were in complete control of the game and then started to make some mistakes and lost some control. In the last 10 minutes of the first half we started to be a bit sloppy. This is something we can learn that in football you can’t drop anything."

    On Nicolas Jackson: "Since we started he’s doing fantastic. Everyone is watching the goals and assists but the way he works off the ball and presses, he’s doing very well."

    On Enzo Fernandez: "Enzo is doing fantastic since we started. The game plan requires different types of players for every day. Today was a game for Enzo."

    On facing his old club: "It’s been a pleasure to see old friends and good people."

  6. Steve Cooper

  7. Enzo Maresca shakes Steve Cooper's hand

  8. 'The job is done'

    Wesley Fofana of Chelsea applauds the fansGetty Images

    Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana after the 2-1 win at Leicester: "After the international break it is a bit harder. Some players only came back yesterday. We played well and we won the game which is the most important thing. The job is done. We have the three points.

    "We like this pressure, we play for this and to finish at the top. We try to win every game to stay high.

    "It felt great to come back here, [I had] two incredible years here."

  9. Leicester 1-2 Chelsea: Did you know?

    Nicolas Jackson of Chelsea scores his team's first goalGetty Images

    Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson scored his seventh Premier League goal of the season and his fifth away from home.

    Since May, only Erling Haaland (18) has scored more goals in the competition than the Blues’ striker (11) while no player has scored more away goals than Jackson (5) in 2024-25.

  11. Cole Palmer and Gianfranco Zola at Chelsea

  13. Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy

  14. Sutton's predictions: Leicester v Chelsea

    Chris Sutton and Peter Hooton

    Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League games this season, against a variety of guests.

    For week 12 he takes on The Farm singer and Liverpool fan Peter Hooton.

    The Farm's new single, Forever & Ever, is out now and their new album, Let The Music (Take Control), is released in May 2025.

    Sutton's prediction: 1-3

    Enzo Maresca is back at Leicester for the first time since he left to take charge of Chelsea in the summer, and I actually think his return will be quite straightforward for him and his side.

    Leicester will be pretty happy with the way they have started the season, given they had to replace Maresca, but I still think Steve Cooper faces a hard job to keep them up.

    The only thing that makes me question whether Chelsea will win is because you never know quite where teams are after the international break, and also how many of their injured players will still be out.

    Cole Palmer was one of them, but I am willing to bet he will start this game. If he is fit, they will have a little bit too much for Leicester.

    Hooton’s prediction: 1-2

    Chelsea looked like a basket case in the summer but they impressed me at Anfield earlier this month - they had a gameplan and played really well. I texted the Chelsea fans I know, saying 'crisis over'. Moises Caicedo is looking good and Nicolas Jackson has started scoring but it is Cole Palmer who makes them tick. He is a joy to watch, like a park footballer really - he appears lazy and nonchalant, but he is total class.

    Read the full predictions and have your say here