Enzo Maresca Seeks Long-Term Goalkeeper Solution For Chelsea’s Season Finish

Chelsea manager, Enzo Maresca, announced that Robert Sanchez will be in the starting lineup for their Premier League match against Arsenal on Sunday.

He expressed his hope to maintain his first-choice goalkeeper for the remainder of the season.

Maresca dropped Sanchez after the Spaniard committed an error that led to a goal in their 3-1 defeat by Manchester City in January, with backup stopper Filip Jorgensen starting four straight Premier League games.

However, Sanchez returned to the lineup for a 1-0 league win over Leicester City last week.

“It will be Robert playing against Arsenal. Since we started, the idea was not to change keepers, but sometimes you have to modify and be flexible with your ideas,” Maresca told reporters on Friday.

“We do this in the game plan; we do this the way we want to attack, the way we want to defend, but also, we need to be flexible on players. I think Robert needed some days off, or at least some rest mentally.

“Now he’s back. Hopefully, we are not going to change until the end. Also because I said many times, we are quite happy with both keepers.”

Chelsea, currently sitting fourth in the league with 49 points from 28 matches, is six points behind second-placed Arsenal and will be aiming to close the gap with a victory.

Asked about the possibility of challenging the north London club for second place, Maresca said, “But they can also be nine points (ahead). At the moment they are six. We are not focused on that.

“We are just focused on how we can do our game, how we can try to beat them, and then hopefully we can do that, and we can be more close… Yes, it (second place) could be a target for sure.

“It’s our duty to do our best, but at the same time I think the target for us right now is Sunday’s game, and then game after game to see how we can get closer.”

Both teams will be without a recognized striker on Sunday, as winger Pedro Neto is anticipated to spearhead Chelsea’s attack due to the absence of injured forward Nicolas Jackson.

Meanwhile, Arsenal has been utilizing midfielder Mikel Merino as a forward in recent weeks.

“Yeah, it’s quite strange for both, because we have all of them injured, but I think they are trying to find a solution. We are trying to find a solution at the same time,” Maresca said.

“Pedro, since we started, is doing, I think, very well in that position. We’ll see if Sunday we use Pedro there or if we change something.

“All the clubs during the season, they have moments where they have injuries, so they need to adapt, they need to be flexible and try to find a solution.”