The Enzo Maresca revolution keeps on rolling at Chelsea as an impressive 3-0 victory over top-four rivals Aston Villa on Sunday extended their unbeaten run in the Premier League to five matches.
The Blues lie third in the table, level on points with Arsenal above them, and although they’re nine adrift of leaders Liverpool who continue to pick up steam under Arne Slot, Maresca will no doubt be happy with how the campaign is going so far.
They will look to continue the momentum with a trip to Southampton on Wednesday before facing a London derby with Tottenham on Sunday.
There are one or two injury concerns for the Stamford Bridge side entering a busy December but they certainly don’t lack players and perhaps their famously bloated squad will come in handy in the coming weeks.
Here’s the latest Chelsea team news and injury updates ahead of their midweek clash:
Wesley Fofana
The main bit of bad news that emerged for Chelsea during the thumping win over Villa was the hamstring injury to Wesley Fofana that will cost him four to five weeks of action – not ideal when you’re entering the busiest stretch of the season.
“Unfortunately it is bad news,” said Maresca when asked about the Frenchman in his post-match press conference. “It is a hamstring problem and these kind of things usually require at least three, four or five weeks, but in this moment that means we lose him for 10 or 12 games.
“The way he was playing, it’s a big loss for us, but we have more players and we will try to find a solution. It’s a big loss because he’s doing fantastic, but it’s normal when you play this amount of games unfortunately. Fortunately, it’s his first injury this season, and we are going to find a solution.”
Reece James
It was reported 10 days ago that full back James had suffered yet another hamstring injury, although Maresca explained he had felt “something small” with the suggestion being that he would miss that weekend’s match against Leicester as a precaution. It is James’s seventh separate hamstring issue since the 2021-22 campaign.
However, he was still not in the squad for the game against Villa and although no timeline has been confirmed, reports now suggest he will be sidelined for the remainder of 2024.
Malo Gusto
Gusto returned to action off the bench against Villa, having missed last week’s win at Leicester and the midweek Conference League trip to Heidenheim as a precaution due to illness, and is ready to start against Southampton if he is required.
“Malo is doing fantastic,” said Maresca. “I have said many times that one of the reasons why we are where we are in this moment is because of Malo. He helps us a lot in terms of the process. With us he’s played full-back wide, full-back inside, full-back in the pocket, he is playing three or four positions. The good thing is that he is happy because he is also learning different things.”
Omari Kellyman
Attacking midfielder Kellyman also remains sidelined with a hamstring injury that he picked up back in September, posting on X/Twitter at the time: “Gutted to have suffered a hamstring injury. Part of the game but I’ll be back stronger.”
The injury was set to sideline him for two months but he is yet to return to contention for the Blues.
