"Is this a joke?", "We gonna lose man" - Chelsea fans slam Enzo Maresca for starting XI vs Atalanta

Chelsea fans were left unhappy with manager Enzo Maresca after he named his starting XI for the UEFA Champions League match against Atalanta. Most fans were not optimistic about a good result and gave up hope ahead of kickoff.

Robert Sanchez keeps his place in goal, but the backline sees two changes. Josh Acheampong comes in for Malo Gusto at right-back, while Benoit Badiashile replaces Wesley Fofana in the middle. Trevoh Chalobah and Marc Cucurella keep their place from the goalless draw at AFC Bournemouth.

Reece James continues in the middle of the park, and he has Moises Caicedo beside him this evening. Enzo Fernandez moves up the pitch in the attacking role, with Cole Palmer missing out. Pedro Neto and Jamie Gittens are the wingers today, with Joao Pedro leading the attack.

Chelsea fans are unhappy with the starting XI and believe the manager has made a mistake. Many posted:

William Meulenkamp

@William79233769

Is this a joke??? Do Enzo know it’s a must win game.

A B A S S D E G E M ⚽️🏀

@Abassdegem

What type of Line up is this? Prepared to come back home with defeat

Fenzzy 🦅..

@CFC_Fenzzy

Yeah, we're just losing

CFC SQ

@cfc_sq0

Why u not playing Garnacho when he’s our best winger? Stupid manager

YG

@YG8327863224488

F**k him, we gonna lose man badishili

ETHAN🌋

@Ethancfc7_

Gittens wtf is this man Up to

Enzo Maresca spoke about his squad ahead of the game in his pre-match press conference earlier this week and said (via Football London):

"Yeah, Reece and Wes are both with us, so both are available for tomorrow's game. Then we see the first XI tomorrow. And then in terms of the No.9, we had already Liam two months out, unfortunately for him and unfortunately for us. Joao played as a No.9, Pedro Neto played as a nine, if you remember at the beginning of the season, also play as a No.9.

"So we try to find a solution, knowing that Liam is an important player for us because we know that he needs to play games to get fit and better and better. I think that now he was a bit better compared to when he was back from injury, but now unfortunately he's again out and we're going to try to find a solution."

Maresca's side are winless in their last three matches, following draws to Arsenal and AFC Bournemouth and a loss to Leeds United, all in the Premier League.

Chelsea backed to win UEFA Champions League by Salomon Kalou

Former Ivory Coast star Salomon Kalou spoke to Duelbits earlier this month, backing Chelsea to win the UEFA Champions League. He claimed that his former side have shown that they can beat any side in cup competitions and said:

"Chelsea. They’ve shown in the Club World Cup that they can beat anyone on their day. Of course, there are other strong teams, but Chelsea have the quality to go deep in Europe."

The Blues are seventh in the UEFA Champions League table, and face Atalanta, who are sitting 10th with the same number of points.