Antonio Conte has confirmed that while Eden Hazard missed out on Chelsea’s FA Cup draw against Norwich with a calf problem, the Belgian returns for Arsenal.

It couldn’t get much worse for the Gunners. Ahead of the first leg of the Gunners League Cup semi-final tie against Chelsea, Arsene Wenger confirmed that none of our injured players will return.

“We don’t recover anybody unfortunately,” Wenger said. “I believe that on Sunday we paid the price for having many injured players. Some needed to be rested but we also had five or six players injured. That’s a bit detrimental to the rotation as well.”

This means that Laurent Koscielny (Achilles), Aaron Ramsey (hamstring), Olivier Giroud (hamstring), Sead Kolasinac (ankle) and Nacho Monreal (ankle) are still out. What’s more, Granit Xhaka (groin) and Shkodran Mustafi both face late fitness tests after training.

Fantastic!

mustafi huddersfield
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 29: Shkodran Mustafi of Arsenal reacts during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Huddersfield Town at Emirates Stadium on November 29, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Hours later, Conte revealed that Hazard is fighting fit and ready to start in the Carabao Cup clash at Stamford Bridge. This will be music to most Chelsea fans’ ears considering how well the 27-year-old played in the Premier League match at the Emirates a week ago.

“Eden is in a good physical condition,” the Italian said. “He has recovered well from a little problem in his calf. He is ready and is in contention for the game.”

Chelsea were strong in last week’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal, but Arsene Wenger’s men had it in their locker to win that match. Now, with even more squad rotation potentially in the works, it’s hard to say whether this will be the case again.

The Blues are still without Ross Barkley though so… that’s good news I suppose…