The next few fixtures will tell us a lot about Chelsea and where they stand currently, with respect to some of the best teams in world football. The Blues have a Champions League game against Barcelona as well as a Stamford Bridge visit from Premier League table toppers Arsenal coming up over the next couple of weeks.
Unfortunately, Chelsea are set to be without star man Cole Palmer for these games, as he has now suffered a fresh injury while recovering from his groin issue. There are other absentees as well, like Levi Colwill. But on the other hand, Benoit Badiashile, Enzo Fernandez and Pedro Neto appear to have recovered from the issues they had been dealing with.
On the other hand, it looks like Arsenal have been handed a major blow themselves. They look set to be without one of their most important players for their visit to take on Chelsea.
The player we are talking about is none other than Gabriel, who has picked up an injury during the international break that is expected to keep him out for 'weeks', although the extent of it is still not completely clear. As reported by Sky Sports, Mikel Arteta said about the defender's situation:
"Gabi unfortunately picked up an injury with the national team. He will be out for weeks.
"We need to have another scan next Wednesday. We will have the timeline much more clearly than we have at the moment."
Mikel Arteta confirms Arsenal blow for Chelsea game
That is a double blow for Arsenal. On one hand, Gabriel is one of the best centre-backs on the planet. On the other hand, he is also a problem for opposition defences when it comes to set pieces.
Their schedule is probably even tougher than Chelsea's. They will return to action with a derby against Tottenham Hotspur, and will then face Bayern Munich before making the trip to Stamford Bridge.
So, Arsenal will miss the defender on both ends of the pitch. At the same time, this will come as a relief to Chelsea, who have struggled to compete defensively when put under pressure and surely the forwards will have an easier time with Gabriel not on the pitch.
Of course, Chelsea cannot spend too much time thinking about what is going right or wrong at Arsenal though. They have to worry about themselves and getting ready to face the best version of Arteta's side.