Midfield marvels Caicedo and Lavia leave Fernández on Chelsea sidelines

On Thursday night, Enzo Fernández caught the eye with a hat-trick of first-half assists during Chelsea’s 8-0 win over Armenia’s FC Noah in the Conference League. The midfielder delivered corners for Tosin Adarabioyo and Axel Disasi to score, produced the pass for the first of João Félix’s goals and generally looked entirely out of place in Europe’s third-tier competition, which is perhaps not a huge surprise given that Fernández is a World Cup winner and was briefly the most expensive player in England.

However, it remains to be seen whether Enzo Maresca was thinking about managing the Argentina international’s workload when he decided not to send him out for the second half against Noah. The likelier scenario is that Fernández, the £106.8m Thursday-night footballer, will be on the bench when Chelsea host Arsenal on Sunday. He has, after all, not started the past three league games and it is surely not a coincidence that Maresca’s side have had more balance with Roméo Lavia partnering Moisés Caicedo in central midfield.

The main issue for Fernández since his arrival from Benfica in January 2023 has been physicality. The passing ability is obvious but is he robust enough for the Premier League? Mauricio Pochettino, Maresca’s predecessor, had his doubts. Chelsea struggled to make the partnership between Caicedo and Fernández work last season.

Restricting Caicedo to the role of Fernández’s bodyguard was wasteful. For all the hype, the latter’s creative output has not been high enough to justify building the midfield around him. Fernández’s return of seven goals since joining Chelsea is poor, he does not have an assist in the league this season and the wider metrics are not positive: the 23-year-old is not creating big chances, his tackle success rate is 39% and his passing output has declined.

Caicedo, though, is excelling in almost every department and is one of the best midfielders in England. No midfielder has made or competed more tackles than the Ecuador international this season. He ranks third for interceptions, second for duels won and sixth for possession regained in the middle third of the pitch.

Yet the former Brighton midfielder is no mere destroyer. Although he is adept at breaking up play, Caicedo also deserves respect for his prowess on the ball. Only four midfielders have completed more successful passes this season and Manchester United saw the 23-year-old’s quality when he drilled in a cracking equaliser from the edge of the area at Old Trafford last Sunday.

It was a goal that showed why Chelsea broke the bank for Caicedo in August 2023, even though they knew they were overpaying by at least £10m. A record £115m fee, which is offset by the club handing the player a long and incentivised deal, no longer draws external derision. Caicedo is stomping over opposition midfields and he is opening up defences with perceptive through balls, assists for Nicolas Jackson against Liverpool and West Ham showcasing his passing range.

Now the challenge is to overpower and outclass Arsenal, who failed with a £70m bid for Caicedo in January 2023. It helps that Lavia, who missed almost all of last season through injury, is establishing himself as a key player for Maresca. The former Southampton midfielder, who joined Chelsea at the same as Caicedo, provides stability. So smooth on the ball, Lavia holds his position, resists the press, distributes beautifully and liberates Caicedo. “It is a matter of balance,” Maresca says. “Romeo and Moi give us physicality and strength in the middle.”

That will be pivotal against Arsenal, one of the most imposing teams around. Mikel Arteta missed out on Caicedo, but he has Declan Rice and Mikel Merino. Rice was once a target for Chelsea, who wanted him back after letting him go at the age of 14, and the England midfielder has been excellent since joining Arsenal for £105m last year.

He hurt Chelsea last season, scoring a stunner at Stamford Bridge and outdoing Caicedo and Fernández in a 5-0 win for Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in April. This time, though, the battle should be tighter. Rice missed Arsenal’s defeat by Inter on Wednesday with a toe injury and it will not be easy for the 25-year-old to play through the pain barrier.

Chelsea have progressed a lot in a short space of time. They opened the season with Caicedo, Fernández and Lavia starting in midfield, with Cole Palmer shunted to the right wing, but Maresca has succeeded by altering his approach. Fernández, quite simply, has never done enough to justify playing as the most advanced midfielder. Maresca soon restored Palmer to the No 10 spot and Lavia, who sat out a few games through injury, has not needed long to take one of the deeper spots away from Fernández.

It is a conundrum for Chelsea given they paid so much for Fernández. In time they may be forced to cut their losses on him. They are already thinking about where Andrey Santos will fit in when the 20-year-old Brazilian returns from his increasingly impressive loan at Strasbourg.

Fernández will be squeezed out if he is not careful. The thought occurs that Maresca would have found more use in Conor Gallagher, who was sold to Atlético Madrid last summer. Then again, Maresca favours control and he has it in Caicedo and Lavia. They both had slow starts to their Chelsea careers, but the future will look even brighter if they outwit Arsenal.