Maresca frustrated not to have Champions League secured

Enzo Maresca feels Chelsea have done more than enough to secure a top-five finish in the Premier League.

However, the Blues must beat Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Sunday to be sure of their place in next season's Champions League.

Forest are seventh, but know that a victory would see them move above Chelsea, in what promises to be an enthralling tussle.

Chelsea's London rivals Tottenham secured their spot in the Champions League by beating Manchester United in the Europa League final this week, and though Maresca is not frustrated that 17th-place Spurs are sure of their place in UEFA's elite club competition, he is downbeat that the Blues have not yet guaranteed their qualification.

"I feel frustrated, not because of Tottenham," he said, as quoted by the London Evening Standard.

"I feel frustrated because if you see the data, we are the first or second club in creating chances.

"I’m not thinking about Tottenham. If they’re going to play in the Champions League next season, it’s because they have done something good, winning the Europa League.

"The frustration is more because I think overall we did enough to finish top four or top five. The numbers are there, offensively and defensively. We are the third-best defence in the league, but we have the risk of not finishing in the top four or top five.

"I feel frustrated because I think we did enough offensively and defensively to finish in the Champions League. But now we are here and we will try to finish in the right way."

Only Liverpool (228) have had more shots on target than Chelsea (216) in the Premier League this season, their most in a season since having 223 in 2019-20.

Forest, meanwhile, have had a fantastic season, though they would no doubt be disappointed to miss out on the Champions League, having occupied a place in the top five for so much of the campaign.

Nuno Espirito Santo has been linked with a move away from the club to join Roma, but he scoffed at the speculation.

"Do you really think that I’m going to waste time on that?" he replied when asked about the rumours.

"So much seems to get read, my main focus is on preparing the team, trying to get the best solutions and details for the players. Nothing else. Nothing else."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Nottingham Forest - Chris Wood

Wood has scored 20 Premier League goals this season, the most by a Nottingham Forest player in a season since Stan Collymore scored 22 in 1994-95.

The Kiwi has also scored four goals in five starts in his team’s final game of a season, netting two against former club Burnley in 2023-24.

Chelsea - Cole Palmer

Palmer has created 87 chances in the Premier League this season, the most by a Chelsea player since Mason Mount in 2020-21 (87), with Eden Hazard in 2018-19 the last player with more (98).

He has also had 125 shots, with that combined with his chances created (212) the most shots and chances created for the Blues since Didier Drogba in 2010-11 (150 shots, 74 chances created).

MATCH PREDICTION: CHELSEA WIN

Forest have won 19 Premier League matches this season, more than they did in 2022-23 and 2023-24 combined (18). They last won 20+ games in 1994-95 (22), while they’ve never done so in a 38-game top-flight season.

However, they have won just one of their last seven Premier League games against Chelsea (D3 L3), beating them 1-0 at Stamford Bridge in September 2023.

Chelsea won this exact fixture 3-2 last season. Only once have they won consecutive away league games against Forest, beating them 3-2 in February 1912 and then 4-0 over 10 years later (December 1922).

But the Blues are winless on the last three occasions they have ended their Premier League campaign with an away game, losing 3-0 to Newcastle United in 2017-18, drawing 0-0 at Leicester City in 2018-19 and losing 2-1 at Aston Villa in 2020-21.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Nottingham Forest - 31.4%

Chelsea - 43.4%

Draw - 24.9%