Enzo Maresca has nine Chelsea players guaranteed to start after the international break

Enzo Maresca's Chelsea team travel to Anfield to take on Liverpool in their first game back after the international break

A trip to Anfield is on the calendar for Enzo Maresca and his Chelsea team when Premier League football returns after the international break. The Blues have started the 2024/25 season in good form and they will have to be at their very best to leave Liverpool with points in the bag.

It is going to be a very tough game for Maresca and his side but Nottingham Forest have already demonstrated this season how to leave Anfield with a victory. If Chelsea are indeed victorious on Merseyside then it would send out a real statement to their Premier League rivals.

Maresca is going to have to tinker with his team to face Liverpool as first-team regulars Wesley Fofana and Marc Cucurella are missing through suspension. That in turn will give a couple of players on the periphery of the Italian's preferred Premier League XI the opportunity to stake their claim for a regular starting spot.

So which Chelsea players are guaranteed to start against Arne Slot's team? football.london takes a look below.

Amid question marks over Robert Sanchez's place in the Chelsea XI going into the season, the Spaniard is undoubtedly the club's No.1 at present. The ex-Brighton & Hove Albion man showed exactly why he is an automatic pick for Maresca right now with two excellent stoppage-time saves in last weekend's draw against Nottingham Forest.

In defence, Malo Gusto and Levi Colwill are guaranteed to start the game at Anfield. Fofana's suspension opens up the door for someone else to come in at the back, with Tosin Adarabioyo leading the way to start.

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While there is a strong chance the ex-Fulham man gets the nod from the off, there are no guarantees that he is the player selected alongside Colwill. The same applies to Renato Veiga at left-back.

Veiga has performed very well in his game time but this will be a real test for him coming up against a player of Mohamed Salah's quality. Chelsea's midfield picks itself right now with Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo the partnership of choice in the middle of the park.

Maresca also has a preferred front four in the Premier League and it's hard to see him changing things up. Noni Madueke is perhaps the player most susceptible to losing his place in the side, especially with Pedro Neto as an option on the right, but he was outstanding in the draw against Nottingham Forest and keeps his place in the side.

Madueke joins Cole Palmer, Jadon Sancho and Nicolas Jackson in the Chelsea front four to take on Liverpool. Players such as Neto, Joao Felix, Mykhailo Mudryk and Christopher Nkunku will all have to contend with a place on the substitutes' bench to begin with once again.

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