Why has Cole Palmer been left out of Chelsea's lineup in the UEFA Conference League?

Cole Palmer, Romeo Lavia, and Wesley Fofana have been omitted from Chelsea's squad for the Conference League.

The Blues are featuring in this season’s third-tier competition of European club football after finishing sixth in the top-flight under Mauricio Pochettino last term.

Enzo Maresca’s side qualified for the group stages after a 3-2 aggregate win over Servette.

Palmer scored four goals against Brighton on Saturday but will play no part in the Conference League – with Chelsea understood to be mindful of his workload after a breakthrough 12 months – during which he has cemented his place as an integral part of the Blues midfield and a senior England international.

Fofana and Lavia, meanwhile, have endured a difficult year with injuries and Enzo Maresca wants to take a cautious approach with two players who look set to feature prominently under him.

Chelsea can make a maximum of three changes for the knockout phase, assuming they qualify, when they re-submit their squad on February 6, 2025.

‘We already played some games without Cole,’ Maresca said this week.

Gent (H)

Heidenheim (A)

Astana (A)

Shamrock Rovers (H)

Panathinaikos (A)

Noah (H)

‘For sure, for us or any team in the world, Cole gives you an extra that you need. Also, we need to think a little bit that we need to protect some players, they need that.

‘It’s not that we decided to protect Fofana, Lavia or Cole for no reason, there is a reason behind it. I think Cole needs to be protected a little bit.’

Chelsea full-back Ben Chilwell was also left out of the Conference League squad by Maresca.

Goalkeepers: Sanchez, Jorgensen, Bergstrom

Defenders: Disasi, Cucurella, Tosin, Badiashile, James, Gusto, Veiga, Colwill, Acheampong

Midfielders: Fernandez, Madueke, Chukwuemeka, Nkunku, Sancho, Dewsbury-Hall, Caicedo, Casadei, George, Dyer

Forwards: Neto, Mudryk, Felix, Jackson, Guiu

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The Italian provided a coy response when asked if he regretted not including Chilwell in the squad given Reece James’ injury issues and simply said: ‘No.’

Maresca recently admitted Chilwell could still feature for Chelsea in the Premier League this season after being told he had no future at Stamford Bridge.

Quizzed if Chilwell, a £50m signing from Leicester City four years ago, has a chance of playing again in the Premier League for Chelsea, Maresca replied: ‘Yeah, in the moment that we need, for sure, why not?

‘I’ve said many times and I will say again, in the moment Chilly is with us he’s one of the Chelsea players, he’s one of our players and if we need we’ll give him a chance and minutes.’