5 players who could benefit from Chelsea’s Europa League campaign

Chelsea FC v Cardiff City - Premier League — Chelsea have won all of their opening five Premier League matches

Chelsea haven’t started the season in the Europa League since the 2002/03 season, and an awful lot has changed since then. Back then it was the UEFA Cup, and Roman Abramovich hadn’t taken over the Blues.

Obviously, the Europa League is unlikely to take priority at Stamford Bridge this season. Maurizio Sarri has been bought in to improve Chelsea’s Premier League performance, which saw them finish fifth last season and miss out on a spot in the Champions League.

This may not be too much of a problem, as the same could have been said in the 2012/13 season, where they dropped out of the Champions League, and actually went on to win the Europa League, beating Benfica in the final, under the management of Rafael Benitez.

Sarri has already made clear that the Europa League isn’t too important to his targets, by leaving some key players at home for Thursday’s opener against PAOK. Eden Hazard, Mateo Kovacic and David Luiz have all been left out of the squad for the match, and we are likely to see a few more first-team players left on the bench for the match.

This will give some of Chelsea’s fringe players a chance to make a mark, both tonight and throughout their campaign.

Here are five men who could make the most of this opportunity:

#1 Ruben Loftus-Cheek

Arsenal v Chelsea - International Champions Cup 2018 — Loftus-Cheek has appeared just twice from the bench so far this season

This is a massive season for Loftus-Cheek. He had an impressive season on loan with Crystal Palace last year, and then did an excellent job for England at the World Cup, as the Three Lions reached the semi-final stage for the first time since 1990.

The big question coming into this season, though, was whether he could break into the Chelsea team, and get the game time he needed at Stamford Bridge to take the next step.

So far this year, that hasn’t really worked out for the Englishman, and he has had just 33 minutes of action in the league so far. On paper, Loftus-Cheek should be the sort of player who fits Sarri’s system. He is very good with the ball at his feet, and is capable of getting forward and having an impact in the final third. He is also a player who will get himself forward into goal-scoring positions, something the Blues don’t really have in the centre of the park at the moment.