Moises Caicedo is walking a disciplinary tightrope, as the Chelsea midfielder is just one yellow card away from a two-game suspension in the Premier League. However, Enzo Maresca has made it clear that resting him against Leicester City is not an option.

When asked in his press conference whether he considered leaving Caicedo out to protect him for the Arsenal game, Maresca dismissed the idea outright:

“No, no, no. I know that they said this to me, but at this moment for us, it’s about winning games.”

The Chelsea boss emphasised that the team must focus on the present challenge rather than thinking too far ahead:

“We need to win games, so we cannot plan giving Moi a rest thinking that he can play Arsenal.

“We need to win against Leicester and then we need to focus on how we can beat Arsenal. It’s just game by game and we need our best players on the pitch.”

Caicedo, who is known for his combative style, has a history of accumulating yellow cards, something Maresca acknowledged:

“The position of Moises, if you see his background, last year he had 11 to 12 yellow cards, the year before the same, because he’s a midfielder.

“You are in the traffic. Sometimes you have to make some fouls. It’s normal. Hopefully, he can avoid that until the end, knowing that probably it’s difficult.”

Despite the risk of suspension, Maresca highlighted Chelsea’s midfield depth, mentioning the return of Romeo Lavia and the possibility of Reece James playing in midfield:

“The good thing is that we have also Romeo [Lavia] now, he’s started with us already. He can be back. We need to be ready. Reece can be a midfielder like tonight so we’ll see.”

With Chelsea looking to build momentum, Maresca is determined to field his strongest team, even if it means taking a risk with Caicedo’s availability for future fixtures.