EPL: CHELSEA NAME U21 COACH McFARLANE TO TAKE CHARGE AGAINST MAN CITY

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By: Sefiu Ajape

Chelsea’s Under-21 head coach, Calum McFarlane, will take temporary charge of the senior team for Sunday’s Premier League encounter against Manchester City following the exit of Enzo Maresca on New Year’s Day.

In a post published on the club’s website, McFarlane, speaking at Cobham ahead of the fixture, described the last 24 hours as “a crazy whirlwind” but said his focus remains on preparing the squad for the test at the Etihad Stadium.

“We don’t know what the future beyond this game is, but right now the brief is just to prepare the lads for Man City on Sunday.

“We will go there looking to give a good account of ourselves and trying to obtain a good result,” he said.

McFarlane admitted the task ahead would be tough against Pep Guardiola’s side, noting, “We know we will be facing a good team, in good form and led by a great manager. But we have good players too, and we will be going into the game being as positive as possible.”

He also gave an update on Marc Cucurella, who missed Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Bournemouth in their previous outing.

“With Marc, it is positive [that he’s back in training] and we will see with him,” McFarlane said. “We’re undecided on that [whether he will play]; I don’t have the full information on him as of yet. Otherwise, we don’t have any other updates on players at the moment.”

Chelsea will be aiming to open 2026 on a positive note at the Etihad under McFarlane’s interim leadership.