Chelsea are back in action on Wednesday when they face Liverpool away from home in the Carabao Cup fourth round. The Blues suffered a surprise defeat to Tottenham over the weekend as their battle for true consistency continues.
Liverpool come into this one on the back of solid wins against Brighton in the Premier League and Villarreal in the Champions League.
Ahead of the game, we have rounded up all the latest injury news surrounding both sides.
Huko Ekitike - Out
Ekitike won't return from his Achille issue until some time in December.
Giovanni Leoni - Out
Leoni has had a tough time coming back from his knee issue. Iraola said just over a week ago: "It’s taking more time than we wanted. The plan was to train with the team in this past international break [but] probably it’s going to be in the next [one], so we’ve lost one month in the process. He has to be very confident; the rehab process has to be very careful with him, and we want to make sure once he comes to the team, he stays in a good place."
Conor Bradley - Out
Bradley is working his way back form a long term knee issue of his own and will likely return in December or perhaps a touch earlier.
Jeremie Frimpong - Out
Frimpong is out until the end of November. Iraola has said: "Jeremy is obviously a new muscle injury, and it happened, I think, in the second or third minute that he was playing - difficult to predict. We will have to wait until he recovers, but it's going to be difficult, I think, before the break - we will try."
Dominik Szoboszlai - Out
Iraola said after Szoboszlai returned and had to be replaced after feeling discomfort: "He's not a new injury. I think it's in the same place he was probably past week. He hasn't worsened the injury, but probably we have to be a little bit more patient until he recovers fully... he's more or less in the same situation."
Victor Muñoz - Doubt
Iraola said last week: "Victor, he has the knock he received vs Brentford [in the] first half. He could finish the game very well, but he's dealing with some pain, you know, since then, and it was too early the other day vs Villarreal, and I don't know if he's going to play. I think it's going to be difficult, but I really don't know."
Reece James - Out
James had to undergo knee surgery that will keep him out until the new year. Alonso said of the development just over a week ago: "We are all disappointed... He wanted to have a good start after the break, but in the last training session he picked up an injury. We wanted to be cautious and wait for the [test] result. Now, the surgery has been successful... we wish him a great recovery, and while we don’t set timelines, he will be out for several weeks."
Emiliano Martinez - Out
Martinez is out after undergoing surgery on a fractured jaw. Alonso said last week: "Emi is doing better. He had the surgery, and day by day he is feeling better, but we still need to wait. A few weeks. Hopefully, less than more, but we need to wait. We need to listen to his feelings, the opinions of the doctors, the specialists, the surgeons. Considering it was a bad one, he is doing good."
Pep Chavarria - Doubt
Alonso said last week: "Pep is training a little bit more, but he is not going to make it [for Tottenham]." He could play here but it remains unclear for now.
Emmanuel Emegha - Doubt
Alonso said last week that Emegha is doing well but that Chelsea needed to wait. We will have to wait to see if the wait will go on beyond this game.
Cole Palmer - Out (Suspended)
Palmer's suspension from his weekend red card carries over to the League Cup.
Jamie Gittens - Out
Gittens will be out until at least the weekend.
Joao Pedro - Out
Alonso said over the weekend: "He felt something [in training yesterday]. At the moment he has some liquids, so we need to do some tests to know how big is the injury. And we, for sure it's disappointment, but we need to carry him." Given the quick turnaround, he won't be available here.
Add us as a preferred source on Google