Reece James, Levi Colwill and Nicolas Jackson are among a host of Chelsea stars who have been rested for Thursday night’s Conference League trip to Panathinaikos.
Moises Caicedo and Malo Gusto have also been left in London while Enzo Maresca takes his team to Greece for a group stage game that comes in the midst of a run of four huge Premier League matches.
Cole Palmer, Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana were all also left out of Chelsea’s European squad at the start of the campaign and will therefore not be involved, meaning only four of the XI that started the 2-1 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday have travelled.
James made his first league start in ten months in that fixture, having recovered from his latest hamstring injury, and his omission is unsurprising given Maresca said last week that the right-back would be restricted to playing only once a week at the start of his comeback.
In all, 22 players have travelled to the Greek capital, including academy graduates Lucas Bergstrom, Samuel Rak-Sakyi, Tyrique George and Sumatra Mheuka.
The Blues host Newcastle at Stamford Bridge on Sunday before taking on the same side in the last-16 of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday. Maresca’s men also play Manchester United and Arsenal in the league before the next international break.
