Return dates for Chelsea’s depleted defenders after plethora of injuries

The Pride of London discuss Chelsea’s depleted defence list. The problems are thanks to a plethora of injuries to defenders, leaving head coach Graham Potter with few options.

Sometimes outcomes of a game are influenced by off-pitch issues, that fact is unavoidable. Some footballers are more injury-prone than others; one place you expect to see problems is within the pugnacious role of defending. At the moment, the Blues have a deficiency of defenders due to currently having much of the personnel sidelined.

There are, by my count, three mainstays of the backline unavailable at present, four if you include goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga. Ben Chilwell, Reece James and Wesley Fofana make up the quartet. Kalidou Koulibaly only returned to the bench for the Arsenal clash.

Kepa remains out, and there is no return date as of now. Although the boss did confirm that the Spaniard has not yet been ruled out of the World Cup. After making some fine runs against Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League, Chilwell injured his hamstring and misses the chance to play at the tournament. Neither will James be available for England. Encouragingly, Fofana might be ready for end of December fixtures upon Premier League resumption.

Chelsea travel to north for Manchester City cup visit

The Carabao Cup is up next for Graham Potter’ Blues. A tie versus Man City is usually a very difficult prospect, though rotation makes the challenge more doable. There will still surely be numerous senior stars along with a choice selection of up-and-comers from Pep  Guardiola’s crop. We could see notable talent such as Cole Palmer, Josh Wilson-Esbrand, Rico Lewis, Carlos Borges or Adedire Mebude make appearances.

I think Graham Potter is unlikely to change quite as much of his starting XI, partly through necessity. There is, as we know, a thin availability at the back. Results have begun to decline, too, and the former Brighton and Hove Albion head coach will want to progress to the next round against top opposition to boster his reputation. My expected CFC lineup, in a 4-3-3 formation due to a lack of defensive men, is below:

Edouard Mendy; Marc Cucurella, Kalidou Koulibaly, Trevoh Chalobah, Cesar Azpilicueta; Denis Zakaria, Ruben Loftus-Cheek; Conor Gallagher; Raheem Sterling, Christian Pulisic; Armando Broja