
Chelsea team news
Chelsea will be missing a number of key individuals for this clash. N’Golo Kante is the most notable player expected to miss out. He came off against Liverpool after suffering a knock that saw him even pull out of international duty with France. Kante’s health has been shaky to begin the season and throwing him back into the fire so soon could have negative long-term impacts. The midfielder is too important over the course of the season to risk. The addition of Saul Niguez on deadline day from Atletico Madrid will help make the decision to keep Kante out of this game a lot easier.
Elsewhere, Lukaku is a serious doubt after picking up a knock on Belgium duty. The Blues have a handful of hugely important matches coming up (Zenit, Tottenham, Manchester City and Juventus), so there’s no reason to rush him back against a mid-table Premier League side. Christian Pulisic has missed time with the United States after a continuous nagging injury, as well. Reece James will be sidelined with a suspension he picked up via his straight red card against Liverpool.
Lastly, Thiago Silva will not feature at the weekend. The Brazilian did not travel to South America during the latest break after England’s top flight agreed to restrict those playing in countries on the UK’s ‘red list’ for COVID-19. FIFA rules state clubs are not allowed to do that and they came down hard on a handful of Premier League teams, serving up small suspensions for each player they kept from travelling. Nevertheless, this was a calculated risk as a 10-day quarantine upon return was the alternative.
Aston Villa team news
The good news for Aston Villa is both Leon Bailey and former Blues youngster Bertrand Traore look to have recovered in time to travel to Stamford Bridge. The importance of this will be fully understood when the other bit of team news is revealed, but getting these two talented youngsters back is always a good thing. Bailey and Traore offer immense speed and creativity from the wide positions, they will look to trouble whoever Tuchel selects to play in the wingback spots on Saturday.
Whereas Silva received a suspension from FIFA, Villa was one of the only clubs to opt to send its players to red list countries. Emiliano Buendia and Emiliano Martinez are set to quarantine for a number of days in Croatia before returning to England. They will not come back to the UK in time to make this match, although this is the only contest the pair will likely miss. Both are pivotal figures in the team whose absences will be felt throughout the entirety of the bout.