Enzo Maresca hints he cannot pick two in-form Chelsea players in the same team --[Reported by Umva mag]

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has hinted his two in-form strikers Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson are unlikely to figure in the same starting XI any time soon.

The Italian has made an impressive start to his Stamford Bridge tenure and followed up Saturday’s comprehensive win at West Ham by masterminding a routine 5-0 thrashing of Barrow in the EFL Cup.

Nkunku, whose first season in England was ruined by a series of injuries, scored an impressive hat-trick which will increase the clamour for him to feature more prominently in the Premier League.

The France international has largely been used as a substitute so far this term and although he proved to be the matchwinner off the bench in a recent win at Bournemouth, he has so far been forced to largely play second fiddle to Jackson.

A smartly taken brace against the Hammers underlined the former Villarreal forward’s fine start to the new campaign but Maresca appears unwilling to pair the duo together and risk compromising his side’s defensive solidity.

‘It’s difficult to judge because last year I was not here,’ said Maresca when asked if the potency of his two main forwards was the main factor in the early improvement Chelsea have shown under his management.

‘The only thing I can judge is that they’re both doing fantastic. Not only because they score, but because they work off the ball. The way they sacrifice for the team.

‘This is very important for them. This is a nice problem when you have two strikers that continue to score. ‘

Unfortunately, Marc Guiu is not scoring at the moment but hopefully soon he can. It’s nice you can decide which one and because they are in a good moment we can use them.’

Pressed on whether Jackson and Nkunku were compatible in the same XI, he added: ‘It could be. But the problem is the defensive balance.

‘We can think to place with Nicolas, Christo, Joao, Cole Palmer, Noni, fantastic! But then who is defending? Me and you?

‘I would like to put all of them in because I really like football and I really like to keep the ball but the problem is when you lose the ball and then you have to defend.

‘Not all of them can defend at the same level.’

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