Chelsea: Enzo Maresca compares Mosies Caicedo to Ballon d'Or winner as midfielder bosses London derby

The Ecuadorian was unplayable at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Caicedo produced a stunning performance in the derby , as well as assisting Joao Pedro’s winning goal as Chelsea edged a physical encounter at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The £125million man has more than proven his worth since signing for Chelsea in 2023, and Maresca praised the midfielder’s humility after another dominant performance.

“I think he's showing how good he is,” Maresca said in his post-match press conference.

“He's top, I said many times, the best thing from Moi for sure, we judge him inside the pitch, but he's so humble, he's such a good guy. He's always there to help everyone.

“For me, him and Rodri, in this moment, they are the two best defending midfielders in the world.”

Caicedo won back possession twice in the build-up to Chelsea’s winner before finding Joao Pedro free in the area, who scored his first goal since August to seal a crucial three points.

The Chelsea forward has been nursing a groin issue and has not trained fully in recent weeks, but showed his quality to keep his cool inside the box and fire the Blues ahead after 34 minutes.

Maresca admitted that it has not been easy for the 24-year-old and reiterated that he was not worried about the Brazilian’s ability to lead the line for Chelsea .

“Joao has never been a problem. The problem with Joao is that he's not training every day because he has problems,” Maresca continued.

“He has some problems that we are trying to manage. So it's normal that then the consequence is that you cannot be 100% fit every game. But I'm not worried about Joao because Joao is a good player, he's going to score goals.

“Even when he didn't score he had some good games. For instance, against Liverpool, I think he was also very good. Now we have Liam back that also can help us as a striker.

“So we have already a different option that is a good thing for us because since we started, we are without Cole (Palmer), we have been two months without Liam. So we need offensive players.”