Chelsea news: Mauricio Pochettino may drop three players for must-win Bournemouth clash | Football | Sport
Mauricio Pochettino may look to change things around when his Chelsea side travel to Bournemouth on Sunday afternoon. The Blues are yet to kick-start their season as they sit 12th in the Premier League table with four points from four matches.
Pochettino will undoubtedly have hoped for better across his first few weeks of competitive action at Stamford Bridge. The former Tottenham manager was drafted in to steady the ship after a disastrous 2022/23 campaign, which ended with a whimper under interim boss Frank Lampard.
So far, the Blues’ only league win of the season came at home to newly-promoted Luton Town. They went into the international break after a morale-sapping defeat to Nottingham Forest, meaning nothing less than a victory will do against winless Bournemouth.
With that, Express Sport takes you through three players who could be at risk of the chop for the visit to the south coast…
Nicolas Jackson
For all his liveliness at the tip of Chelsea’s attack, Jackson is yet to show the kind of potency Pochettino requires. That became particularly apparent against Forest, when the 22-year-old spurned a host of chances, including a sitter from close range which he blazed over the crossbar.
If Christopher Nkunku was fit and firing, Jackson may have been consigned to the bench already. But as things stand, Armando Broja is Pochettino’s only other natural centre-forward. Senior figures at Chelsea reportedly feel as though the youngster has come back from his devastating ACL injury even stronger than before, but it remains to be seen whether he will be thrown straight in at the deep end against the Cherries.
Conor Gallagher
Like Disasi, Gallagher has acquitted himself well over the first few weeks of the season, fending off transfer interest to make a solid impression on his new boss. However, Pochettino may fancy a reshuffle in the middle of the park after a string of poor results.
The Argentine will naturally be keen to see Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez get as much game time as possible, given that they both cost north of £100million and could forge a fruitful partnership for years to come.
That could leave Gallagher at risk of being benched if Pochettino opts to bring a more attacking option such as Cole Palmer or Noni Madueke into the starting XI.
