Chelsea have fresh injury concerns ahead of their home game against Crystal Palace tomorrow.
Enzo Fernandez missed the 2-1 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend through a hernia problem. Mauricio Pochettino confirmed in his press conference he will miss the Palace game.
The Blues will also be without Lesley Ugochukwu, who came off against Wolves with a hamstring issue.
However, there is good news for Chelsea as Moises Caicedo will return to first-team action.
The former Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder fell ill before the Wolves fixture and couldn’t feature, but he will anchor the midfield alongside Conor Gallagher.
Chelsea shelled out £58 million to sign Romeo Lavia from Southampton, but he is yet to feature for them this term after picking up an ankle problem.
He was on the bench for the Wolves game but didn’t come on even when Ugochukwu went down injured.
The Belgian midfielder will likely not be ready to start against Palace but will likely be among the substitutes.
This leaves Pochettino with just two fully fit central midfielders for tomorrow, and he will have a dilemma choosing his starting XI.
Christopher Nkunku could make his first league start for the Blues after two impressive cameos off the bench in the league and League Cup.
Nkunku netted in the penalty shoot-out against Newcastle United before bagging a debut goal in the final minutes of their weekend loss.
He could start his first game at Stamford Bridge after Cole Palmer picked up his fifth yellow card of the season, earning himself an unnecessary suspension.
How Chelsea could line up against Crystal Palace
Chelsea XI (4-2-3-1): Djordje Petrovic, Malo Gusto, Thiago Silva, Benoit Badiashile, Levi Colwill, Moises Caicedo, Conor Gallagher, Raheem Sterling, Christopher Nkunku, Mykhailo Mudryk, Nicolas Jackson.
