LOAN BLOCKED: CHELSEA REFUSES TO LET £20M FILIP JORGENSEN LEAVE IN JANUARY
Chelsea will block goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen from leaving on loan in January, despite his desire for more playing time. Enzo Maresca is happy with his current goalkeeping options.
Chelsea Holding £20M Jorgensen For Backup To Sanchez
According to sources, Chelsea is not planning to allow goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen to go out on loan during the January transfer window.
Denmark must secure their spot in the World Cup through the play-offs next summer, and the Danish goalkeeper is reportedly considering his options mid-season to gain more playing time. Robert Sanchez remains Enzo Maresca's preferred choice for the goalkeeper position, and Jorgensen has accumulated just under 360 minutes in four matches across all competitions this season.
Had Sanchez not received a red card during the Premier League defeat to Manchester United on September 20, the 23-year-old would likely have played even fewer minutes. Chelsea acquired Jorgensen from Villarreal last July for more than £20 million. Since his arrival, he has made 28 appearances, with half of those occurring during the Conference League season.
It is reported that Chelsea is not currently considering a loan for the goalkeeper, despite Jorgensen's desire to explore his options in January. Football London indicates that Maresca has often expressed his satisfaction with the current goalkeeper duo of Sanchez and Jorgensen.
"I have stated numerous times that we are pleased with both goalkeepers," Maresca commented concerning the situation in March, when Sanchez faced significant criticism. However, flexibility is occasionally necessary.
"We need to be adaptable; we approach this with our game strategy, including how we intend to attack and defend, but we must also remain open-minded regarding our players. From the beginning, it was not our intention to replace the goalkeeper."
Mike Penders, another young goalkeeper on Chelsea's roster, is currently on loan at Strasbourg, which is a sister club. The 20-year-old Belgian has garnered attention during his time in France, and the Blues plan to reassess his situation when he returns to Cobham next summer.
REECE JAMES INJURY FEAR SQUASHED: ENZO MARESCA CALLS BURNLEY WIN 'VERY TOUGH
Chelsea beat Burnley 2-0 at Turf Moor with goals from Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez. The win moves the Blues up to 2nd in the Premier League, three points behind leaders Arsenal, ahead of a crucial week.
Maresca Happy James Is Fine After 'Tricky' Post-Break Burnley Victory.
Enzo Maresca, who coaches Chelsea, felt good that the Blues beat Burnley 2-0 at Turf Moor on Saturday, getting all three points in a "hard" away game.
After 37 minutes had passed, Pedro Neto used his head to put the ball in the goal, giving the Blues the lead. Just two minutes later, Enzo Fernandez scored their second goal, giving Enzo Maresca's team the victory.
With this victory, Chelsea has gone up to the second spot, only three points away from Arsenal, the Premier League champions, who will play Tottenham, their biggest rivals, on Sunday.
Maresca was glad that Chelsea had won three Premier League games in a row because his team played better for most of the game and didn't give Burnley many chances.
"I didn't want to win like this, since it's not easy," Maresca said in a talk with TNT Sports. It's hard to play Burnley away at 12:30 after the break for international games because it's always a tough match. But I'm pretty happy with how well we played.
It's really hard to come here and stop them from scoring goals. Normally, they can find a way to score somehow. But, overall, they really only had one very good chance. They didn't have many good chances during the game, but we had a lot.
Be ready. Andrey [Santos] is doing well. He's not playing much, and the game is hard today. It's hard when you don't get to play very often.
"We planned for Reece James to play for 45 minutes," Maresca added, talking about why Reece James was taken out of the game at halftime.
It was important to keep playing well like we did before the international break. Now we will get our energy back and get ready for Tuesday.
Ashley Williams, who used to defend for Swansea City and Everton, thinks Chelsea is still not ready to really fight for the Premier League title while Maresca is in charge.
Williams said, "I don't think Chelsea is ready yet to make it through the whole season [in the title race]," while talking on the BBC's Final Score. I could be wrong about that. I just think Arsenal is better than Chelsea when you think about what they have done recently and their current team, which has a lot of players and a coach with lots of experience.
Pedro Neto, who plays on the wing for Chelsea, was happy to beat Burnley before their next two hard games against big Spanish teams, Barcelona and Arsenal.
"It was a relief," Neto said to TNT Sports.
"Winning 1-0 on this tough field is never easy to do.
"We are very happy with the win because we had the right attitude and didn't let them score."
"It's always good to come back from the international break when we are away for a little while," he said after winning before the Barcelona and Arsenal games. But now, we will spend more time together.
We are excited for the games because these are the kinds of games we love to play, and it's really great.
This one has some fighting in it, which makes it unique. It was hard to come and perform on this kind of surface. But we feel good about the game that is about to happen.
BURNLEY ROUTED: NETO AND ENZO FERNANDEZ GOALS SECURE EASY THREE POINTS FOR CHELSEA
Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez were on target as Chelsea beat Burnley 2-0 at Turf Moor. The victory provides a perfect boost ahead of a crucial week featuring a Champions League clash with Barcelona and a London derby against Arsenal.
Chelsea keep the pressure on Premier League leaders with a 2-0 victory over
Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez both scored, helping Chelsea kick off a crucial week by beating Burnley 2-0 at their home ground.
Neto, who also almost scored again in the second half, made a fantastic header in the 37th minute, and Fernandez scored another goal late in the game, giving the Blues their fifth victory in the last six Premier League matches.
Chelsea can head back to London feeling positive before playing Barcelona at home in the Champions League and Arsenal next Sunday.
Enzo Maresca made four changes to the team that won against Wolves before the international break, including resting Moises Caicedo after he played twice for Ecuador.
Wesley Fofana was not included at all, and Alejandro Garnacho was also a substitute, while Reece James, Jamie Gittens, Tosin Adarabioyo, and Andrey Santos all started the game.
Caicedo's being out was very obvious early on, with Burnley taking advantage of open spaces on the sides and between the defence and midfield.
Loum Tchaouna and Jaidon Anthony were especially active, but both were stopped by defenders at the last moment, and Tchaouna also shot straight at Robert Sanchez.
However, Chelsea started to control the game more as the first half went on, with Neto and Liam Delap trying to get behind the defence, and they almost scored in the 34th minute, but Kyle Walker made a perfect sliding tackle to stop Gittens.
Three minutes later, Gittens helped set up a goal as the away team finally scored, with Marc Cucurella controlling a long pass and finding the former Borussia Dortmund player, whose high cross was met with an impressive header by Neto.
Chelsea made one change for the second half, with Benoit Badiashile, who was now fit, replacing James, and the game started again after a problem with an assistant referee's radio was fixed.
The away team continued where they left off and put a lot of pressure on Burnley's goal, with Neto almost scoring a second goal in the 63rd minute.
The winger was played through on the right and quickly shot at Martin Dubravka's near post, with the goalkeeper just touching the ball before it bounced off the post.
Burnley had hardly been in Chelsea's half during the second half, but they had their best chance in the 69th minute when Quilindschy Hartman found Zian Flemming after a free-kick, but the Dutch player shot high over the goal.
Scott Parker made three substitutions, bringing on Lyle Foster, Hannibal Mejbri, and Armando Broja, who has recovered quickly from an ankle injury he got playing for Albania against England.
But Chelsea still looked more likely to score, and Dubravka pushed a shot from substitute Malo Gusto over the bar, while Burnley were angry that they didn't get more from a pushing incident between Badiashile and Jacob Bruun Larsen at a corner than just a yellow card for the French player.
The away team scored their second point late in the game, in the 88th minute, after Sanchez began the play that led to Marc Guiu pushing past the defence to pass to Fernandez, who then made a shot that went past two Burnley players near the goal.