Chelsea can unleash surprise Marc Cucurella alternative vs Liverpool with two wildcard solutions

Here we take a look at who could replace Marc Cucurella in the Chelsea team when Enzo Maresca's side take on Liverpool at Anfield

Enzo Maresca and Chelsea will have the opportunity to show how far they have come as a team when they face Liverpool after the international break. At a time when Chelsea are fourth in the Premier League table, Arne Slot's Liverpool are top of the pile and four points above them after seven games.

Set to be an incredibly tough game for Chelsea anyway, the Blues will have to do without Wesley Fofana and Marc Cucurella through suspension. The pair will miss out on Merseyside as they now need to serve a one-match ban for picking up five yellow cards in the Premier League before the halfway point of the season.

Having looked at who could replace Fofana at centre-back, football.london takes a look at four options who could fill in for Cucurella at left-back.

Renato Veiga

Veiga looks the clear favourite to start against Liverpool immediately after the international break with Cucurella absent. The Portuguese ace has made a big impression in his game time since joining from Basel, notably scoring in the recent 4-2 win over Gent in the Conference League.

It will be Veiga's second Premier League start if he does get the nod from the off on Merseyside. The summer addition, who can play in a number of positions, started in midfield in last month's win over Bournemouth and delivered a good showing at the Vitality Stadium.

This one at Anfield will certainly be a test for the youngster, especially as he will be directly facing a player of Mohamed Salah's quality. Veiga demonstrated against Gent just how big of an impact he can have from his left-back berth as he constantly inverted into midfield and had a say in the final third with his quality of passing.

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Malo Gusto

If Maresca does want to opt for a bit more experience at left-back then he could play a wildcard and repeat one of his pre-season experiments. During the summer Malo Gusto was utilised as a left-back on a handful of occasions.

The head coach could replicate this if he wanted but the major issue is that he doesn't have Reece James to play at right-back right now unless the academy graduate makes a very swift recovery from his hamstring injury. The only other option would be to play Axel Disasi as a right-back and go with Gusto on the left.

Levi Colwill

Levi Colwill also has experience of playing at left-back for Chelsea after doing so 16 times last season. It is an option available to Maresca for the Liverpool showdown but you would have to say it is extremely unlikely.

After all, the England international has excelled at centre-back this season and there is no reason to take him out of a position he has done so well in. Another reason for keeping Colwill at centre-back is because Chelsea would then need to operate with a brand new centre-back partnership for such a tough game at Anfield.

Colwill can play as a left-back but it is a very easy decision for Maresca and Chelsea.

Ben Chilwell

Maresca does have a Ben Chilwell wildcard he can play if he so wishes. However, it would be a major shock if he opted to give the Champions League winner a starting spot at Anfield.

Chilwell could possibly come into his thinking for the matchday squad, though. Looking set to exit Stamford Bridge in the summer after training away from the rest of the first-team squad, the 27-year-old didn't get a transfer in the end and he has since rejoined the rest of his teammates in first-team training.

Chilwell wasn't handed a start in last month's Carabao Cup win over Barrow but he was introduced at half-time in place of Gusto. The ex-Leicester City man is one of those remaining behind at Cobham during the international break and that does give him some quality time with Maresca and his coaching team.

A place in the matchday squad is certainly more likely than a surprise first-team recall against Liverpool.

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