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Chelsea are set to face Wolves in the Carabao Cup and Enzo Maresca will be keen to stay in the hunt for his third trophy at the club. The Blues travel to Molineux to take on Vitor Pereira’s side, who are yet to win a game in the Premier League this term . Enzo Maresca will hope to steer his team back on track after their shock late 2-1 defeat to Sunderland at the weekend. The Chelsea boss will likely field a much-changed side to the one that recently faltered at Stamford Bridge, but Maresca will be eager to add the Carabao Cup to the Europa Conference League and Club World Cup trophies he has already won with the Blues. Maresca has given injury updates on his squad ahead of the Wolves clash and also addressed Joao Pedro’s ongoing goal drought. Meanwhile, the club’s surprise defeat to Sunderland has led a Chelsea icon to call out Maresca for an error that could prove costly at the end of the season. In the Carabao Cup, Chelsea survived an early scare against Lincoln City to set up their tie with Wolves, while their Premier League opponents overcame West Ham United and Everton in the earlier rounds. Here, Mirror Football takes a closer look at some of the headlines surrounding Chelsea. Enzo Maresca has defended Joao Pedro’s start to the season by insisting he should not be judged as a prolific goalscorer, such as Erling Haaland . The striker enjoyed an eye-catching start to his Chelsea career, scoring three goals in as many games at the Club World Cup soon after arriving from Brighton . The 24-year-old’s strong form continued at the start of the league season, scoring twice and providing three assists in Chelsea’s first four games. However, Pedro has since gone seven matches without providing a goal or an assist, though Maresca has argued that the expectations placed on the Brazilian are too high after his instant impact for the club. “When you are not 100%, it's difficult to compete, especially in this league," Maresca explained in his pre-match press conference. "But I think Joao is not a problem at all. "He's going to score goals with us. He's going to give us assists, knowing that Joao Pedro is not a No.9 that is going to score 20 goals each year. "It's not Joao, he's a fantastic player, he's going to score goals for us, he's going to give us assists. But it's a different kind of nine, like this kind of nine that they score 20-25 goals each year like Lewandowski, Mbappe or Haaland. This is a different kind of No.9." Chelsea were stung by a 93rd-minute winner against Sunderland but club legend John Obi Mikel believes an error of judgment from Maresca allowed their opponents back into the game. The Blues took an early lead through Alejandro Garnacho but Wilson Isidor soon equalised for the away side, setting the stage for Chelmsdine Talbi’s dramatic strike. Mikel’s frustration with Maresca centred around the late double substitution of Pedro Neto and Joao Pedro. The pair were replaced by Andrey Santos and Tyrique George in the 85th minute, which the former midfielder felt blunted Chelsea’s attack. "I’ve never been critical of Enzo Maresca, I’m a big fan of his," he said on The Obi One Podcast . "But I just thought that when we were chasing that game, to win that game when it was 1-1, at home, you can’t take your best players out. You can’t substitute your best players. It doesn’t matter that you’re not playing so great. "Joao Pedro and Pedro Neto, they were not playing so well. But you leave those players on the pitch, they will find a way to create chances, they will find a way to win that game. "I just thought for him to substitute Joao Pedro and Pedro Neto out, after that substitution it was just flat, absolutely flat. There was nothing, we just couldn’t offer anything." The Chelsea boss has announced that striker Liam Delap is back in contention after recovering from his hamstring injury. It is a welcome return for the Blues, but Maresca explained that another trio of players will be treated cautiously ahead of the game against Wolves. "He took part in a complete session yesterday and he is available for tomorrow," Maresca said of Delap. "No, he will not play 90 minutes. He's been out two months, so he needs to be gradually brought back to 100 per cent [fitness]." On the fresh fitness concerns within his squad, the manager added: "Enzo [Fernandez], Moi [Caicedo] and Joao [Pedro], they are all different players for different reasons. We need to protect them. "The reason why is that we need to rotate, we need to protect players. If we go with the same XI, we will struggle through the season. We are going to make some changes, I don't know how many, but we will make changes." Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
