Is Reece James fit to play against Liverpool? Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca issues Cole Palmer plan for Blues captain

10/18/2024 11:13 AM

Reece James is getting closer to making his first competitive appearance for Chelsea under Enzo Maresca.

The Blues' club captain has been plagued by injuries throughout his career with fitness issues sidelining him for the entirety of this season so far. 

However, with a huge clash against Liverpool coming up this Sunday, James could be set to make his long-awaited return to the pitch. 

Here, talkSPORT.com takes a look at the latest on the right-back…

Will James be fit to play against Liverpool?

Enzo Maresca has confirmed that James is available to play against Liverpool. 

The Chelsea boss revealed that the defender has been training with the rest of the Blues squad over the international break.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, he said: We finally are all available. We have a fully fit squad available for selection. 

“Reece James is available. He is back, he worked with us all the international break. Finally, he is back.”

Maresca then went into more detail on James' condition and how Chelsea are going to manage his workload. 

And Cole Palmer's plan is going to be used to help him out. 

Palmer was unexpectedly left out of the Blues' Europa Conference League squad for the League Phase, along with Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana. 

However, it was explained that the trio were omitted to protect them from injuries and avoid an overload of minutes by not playing in the competition. 

James was included in that squad but now Maresca has confirmed that the same plan is now going to be implemented for the right-back. 

“Reece’s body cannot play for instance twice a week so one of the solutions is that we are going to try and manage him the same way we are doing with Romeo [Lavia]," the Italian said. 

“In this moment I think this can be the solution [to play him once a week]. In the future? I don’t know.

“The solution is to go slowly, slowly.

“In the future, we may be able to use him in the week but in this moment we need to use him once a week.”

It means James will only be featuring in Premier League games on the weekend and his first back on the pitch could be against Liverpool. 

Chelsea are the Reds are two of the top-flight in-form teams at the start of the season and it is set to be a thriller on Sunday. 

James isn't likely to start straight away which means Malo Gusto should continue at right-back up against Cody Gakpo or Luis Diaz. 

The Blues captain could be in the squad though and that will be a boost for the squad.