Cole Palmer and Malo Gusto remain injury doubts to face Arsenal on Wednesday, but Reece James has been involved in training ahead of the game.
New Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior told the media on Monday that he’d make late calls on whether Cole Palmer, Reece James, and Malo Gusto could be involved in their League Cup match against Arsenal on Wednesday.
Given his press conference was more than 48 hours before the game, there was certainly potential for further developments. Yet it seems Palmer and Gusto remain strong doubts to feature, as neither have been spotted in training photos on Monday or Tuesday.
The same isn’t true of James, who was involved in training on Tuesday and appears to be in line for involvement in the fixture.
Jacob Steinberg reported for The Guardian on Tuesday night that Palmer is an injury doubt for the game, and Rosenior implied that he wouldn’t be taking any risks with the 23-year-old.
“I’ve had a really good in-depth conversation with Cole today,” Rosenior said. “I’ve had a really good in-depth conversation with the medical team. We’re at a stage of the season where we’ve got another eight games in three weeks.
“So it would be crazy for me to risk any player in this phase of the season.
“To risk a player’s health in January is a crazy thing to do if you have the ambition that you want to be strong at the end of the season.”
One player who will definitely be out is Moises Caicedo, who is suspended for the first leg due to an accumulation of yellow cards in the League Cup.
Caicedo will serve a one-match ban on Wednesday, but he’s currently set to be eligible to play in the second leg at the Emirates Stadium.
Chelsea will also be without Romeo Lavia, Levi Colwill, and Mykhailo Mudryk, but Marc Cucurella will return after serving his one-match ban for a red card against Fulham.