Mauricio Pochettino must now start 21-year-old for the first time for Chelsea vs Tottenham - opinion

Mauricio Pochettino will be delighted with the fight his players showed in their 2-2 draw with Aston Villa at the weekend.

After going into the half-time break 2-0 down, they showed the grit and desire the manager has been pleading for all season to come away with a point.

They may even feel hard done by that it wasn’t all three, with Axel Disasi’s late goal controversially being ruled out by VAR.

Chelsea battle to 2-2 draw vs Aston Villa

With just 11 senior outfield players to call upon on Saturday, the starting side very much picked itself as far as Pochettino was concerned.

While the likes of Noni Madueke took their chance to impress, Mykhailo Mudryk on the other side was not so clinical.

Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images

The Ukraine international looked rusty at times, and was far from his best over on the left wing.

The manager made only two substitutes in that game, however he should now look to one of them when it comes to picking his side to take on Tottenham.

Cesare Casadei has seen extremely limited minutes since coming back to the club from his loan at Leicester, with some asking the question why asking his succesful short term period there was cut so short.

Cesare Casadei should start against Tottenham

He has frequently been brought on late in games, being given limited time to impact proceedings.

However, Pochettino has the perfect opportunity to bring him in and allow him to play in front of the impressive midfield pairing of Conor Gallagher and Moises Caicedo.

This would likely see Cole Palmer return to a more natural attacking role on one side of Nicolas Jackson, a role he played the majority of the season in before his transition into the number 10 role.

Casadei can also bring an element of height to the team that they have not always been able to call upon, which can be crucial for set pieces in both penalty areas.

Despite the fact he is yet to start for Chelsea, there is a real opportunity for him to make a statement on Thursday.