According to Graham Potter, Chelsea F.C. will be without at least seven players for the match against Bournemouth F.C. in the Premier League.
Chelsea F.C. Online News:
The Blues, who are now in seventh place in the table, are hoping to snap a run of three straight Premier League losses when they return from the World Cup break.
Chelsea have had more time to prepare for their upcoming league match as a result of their early EFL Cup loss, in contrary to Bournemouth, who traveled to the North-East earlier this week to play Newcastle United.
However, Potter has conceded that he is having his own selection problems before the game on December 27 at a time when their opponents have been battling a virus.
The long-term problems include Ben Chilwell, N’Golo Kante, and Armando Broja; the first two have hamstring ailments, while the latter just recently had a significant knee injury.
Wesley Fofana re-injured his knee earlier this week, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek is still out with the calf injury he sustained on November 12 against Newcastle United.
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In addition to delivering an update on Mateo Kovacic and Hakim Ziyech‘s availability following the World Cup, Potter spoke on the current challenges in the treatment room when speaking to media during a press conference.
“Wesley had a little setback which can happens sometimes at the last stage of rehab, the Englishman stated. He will be a couple of weeks and will not be available for the game.
“Armando is a big loss. Reece [James] is back in, training, completed 65 minutes in the week. Still without Ruben, Ben Chilwell, Kante, [Edouard] Mendy has had a couple days training.”
Mendy, who played for Senegal, should be in the lineup for the match at Stamford Bridge, although Kovacic and Ziyech are still out following lengthy trips with Croatia and Morocco, respectively.
Potter added: “Still waiting on Hakim and Mateo. They went to the third and fourth-place final, so a big demand. Won’t be available for the game.”
Conor Gallagher, who played no part in England’s games, and Mason Mount, who suffered a slight calf strain, are both likely to be available.
