"Movies will be made", "Eating good today" – Chelsea fans react as Enzo Maresca fields 25-year-old star next to Cole Palmer for Leicester City clash
Chelsea fans have expressed their excitement following Enzo Maresca's decision of handing Joao Felix a start alongside Cole Palmer in the clash at Leicester City this Saturday (November 23).
Felix, who left Atletico Madrid to join the Blues for £46 million earlier this August, is currently deemed to be a squad option for his club. However, Maresca has chosen to offer the Portuguese forward his first Premier League start of the season against the newly promoted Foxes.
Following the announcement of the Blues' lineup, one fan wrote on X:
"Joao Felix, Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson, f*** we are eating good today."
Hinting that Felix and Palmer will be dominant on Saturday, a fan wrote:
"João Felix and Palmer in half spaces, movies will be made man."
Another Chelsea supporter shared his elation on social media, posting:
"Joao Felix PL start. I am sat like mad!"
Posing a question about Felix's potential impact, a supporter wrote:
"Will João Félix seize the opportunity and prove he's the missing spark for Chelsea today?"
A Blues fan opined on Felix being handed his first league start, posting:
"Joao Felix has to show today why he deserves a run of games in the starting lineup."
Hoping for a good performance from the Portuguese, another fan wrote:
"João Félix needs to make good use of this opportunity."
Chelsea starting XI at Leicester City (4-2-3-1): Robert Sanchez; Wesley Fofana, Levi Colwill, Benoit Badiashile, Marc Cucurella; Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez (C); Noni Madueke, Cole Palmer, Joao Felix; Nicolas Jackson
What did Chelsea boss say about Joao Felix?
Ahead of his team's Premier League clash at King Power Stadium, Enzo Maresca was asked if Joao Felix could play alongside Cole Palmer. He responded (h/t Daily Express):
"Yeah, this could be a target for the future... to see both of them playing together. International break is good, first of all for the ones that don't go with their international teams so they can recover and for the ones that do go, some of them, like Joao, did fantastic."
Maresca, who replaced Mauricio Pochettino earlier this summer, added:
"But Joao is doing well with us since day one. The only problem is trying to find balance when we are trying to prepare the game. For us, for all of the clubs, there is always a little bit of doubt because we do not know how they are going to come back."
Felix, 24, has scored five goals and recorded one assist in 10 appearances across all competitions for the Stamford Bridge outfit so far this season.
Palmer, on the other hand, has contributed seven goals and five assists in 13 total appearances for the west London club in the ongoing campaign.