Enzo Maresca confirms Robert Sanchez will start against Arsenal

Enzo Maresca was asked ahead of Sunday’s trip to the Emirates whether he had decided who to start against the Gunners, with Maresca confirming Sanchez will return in goal.

‘Yes, it will be Robert playing against Arsenal,’ said Maresca ahead of our London derby with Mikel Arteta’s side.

‘I’ve said many times we are happy with both goalkeepers. But sometimes, you have to be flexible.

‘Since we started, the idea wasn’t to change the goalkeeper but you have to be flexible; we do this with the game plan, the way we want to attack and defend, but we also have to be flexible with players [changing the personnel].’

The Blues head to north London six points behind our opponents, who sit two places above us in second in the Premier League table.

Victory at the Emirates would see us halve that deficit to just three points, with Maresca asked whether we could climb above Arsenal and finish ahead of them at the end of the season

The Italian didn’t rule that out but insisted his focus is purely on the next game, with the overall target remaining to finish in the top four and to win the Conference League.

‘In this moment we have two targets: finish top four or five for the Champions League and the other is [winning] the Conference League,’ Maresca added.

‘This club is used to playing in finals and fighting for titles, so if we can give the fans and club this chance again then I think it’s important for us.’