The Enzo Maresca revolution keeps on rolling at Chelsea as a hard-fought 2-1 win over Brentford on Sunday extended their unbeaten run in the Premier League to eight matches.
The Blues are now up to second in the table and only two points behind leaders Liverpool as they’ve established themselves as genuine title contenders, despite the ongoing protestations of Maresca.
Marc Cucurella and Nicolas Jackson scored in the victory over the Bees before Bryan Mbeumo’s late goal ensured a nervy finish and Cucurella’s sending off after the full-time whistle put a further dampener on proceedings.
But Chelsea are rattling along nicely ahead of their final Conference League group game against Shamrock Rovers on Thursday, even though there are a couple of injury worries heading into the busy festive period.
Here’s the latest Chelsea team news and injury updates after their weekend win over Brentford:
Joao Felix
Felix was absent for both Chelsea’s Conference League win over Astana on Thursday and the Brentford triumph with a problem that wasn’t disclosed by the club. However, he looks set to return this week.
“We had Joao and Romeo that probably can be available for the next one,” Maresca confirmed in his post-match press conference.
Romeo Lavia
Midfielder Lavia is in the same boat as Felix in that he has missed the last two games, although his problem occurred during the win over Tottenham, where he was forced off at half-time.
As Maresca’s quote above indicates, he too is expected to be back in contention for the Blues’ games this week.
Benoit Badiashile
Defender Badiashile picked up an injury on the eve of the Brentford match that ruled him out of the clash with the Bees, as Tosin Adarabioyo started at centre-back instead.
The Frenchman’s issue appears to be longer term than Felix and Lavia’s although Maresca was unsure exactly how many games for which he will be sidelined.
“Benoit had a problem yesterday during the session,” said Maresca ahead of the Brentford contest. “For now, we do not know how long he will be out for.”
Wesley Fofana
A bad news that emerged for Chelsea earlier this month was a hamstring injury to Fofana that will cost him four to five weeks of action and mean he is likely out until January – not ideal when you’re entering the busiest stretch of the season.
“Unfortunately it is bad news,” said Maresca when asked about the Frenchman at the time. “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 last month 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 has not played since the 1-1 draw with Arsenal on November 10 and although no timeline has been confirmed, reports now suggest he will be sidelined for the remainder of 2024.
“Yes [he’s had a scan],” Maresca said before the Conference League win over Heidenheim on 28 November. “The only thing we can say is that he is getting better day by day. We don’t know how many days he needs. He’s getting better.”
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.