Chelsea vs Arsenal early injury news as 7 ruled out and 3 doubts for Carabao Cup semi-final
All the latest injury news surrounding Arsenal and Chelsea as they prepare to face off in the Carabao Cup.
Attention now turns to the Carabao Cup after a weekend of FA Cup action, at least for the four clubs remaining in the competition. Wednesday sees Chelsea host Arsenal in the first leg of the semi-finals, and both teams will know the importance of getting off to a solid start in the two-legged tie.
Arsenal saw off Portsmouth on Sunday to remain alive in all competitions, while Chelsea defeated Charlton Athletic very comfortably on Saturday to kick-start Liam Rosenior’s reign. Ahead of this one, we have rounded up all the latest injury news surrounding both teams.
Riccardo Calafiori - Out
Calafiori is closing in on a return, and while he is expected to miss out, he may have an outside chance. Arteta confirmed before the Liverpool game: “No, they are out again. I think, pretty soon... they have to go to the last stage of the rehab. And if everything goes well, hopefully very soon, they will be available for selection.”
Cristhian Mosquera - Out
Max Dowman - Out
Dowman is going to miss some time, with Arteta confirming: “Yes, so first of all, unfortunately, Max [Dowman] picked up an injury last weekend and had to come off. So he did some scans and he is going to be out for weeks.”
Piero Hincapie - Out
Hincapie is expected to be out here. Arteta said after the Portsmouth game: “Probably tomorrow we'll know a little bit more where he's at. Obviously he had to come off [against Liverpool] which is never a good sign, but hopefully it's not too much [time out].”
Reece James, Malo Gusto and Cole Palmer - Doubts
All three were rested against Charlton amid minor issues but will almost certainly be ready to go here. They will remain doubts for now, though. Rosenior said over the weekend: “Malo, Cole and Reece were precautionary today. I don't want to take any risks at this stage of the season. They had minor tweaks or knocks from the Fulham game. And I feel like I've got such a good squad here. I don't need to risk their health at the moment. We have a huge game on Wednesday. We have a huge game on Saturday [against Brentford]. And I'll check the medical reports tonight and tomorrow morning and see how they are then.”
Romeo Lavia - Out
Lavia is not expected back from his hamstring issue until early January. Enzo Maresca said earlier in December: “It's a muscle problem. We don't know yet when he can be back. We don't know [if it will be long or short-term].”
Levi Colwill - Out
Colwill is out for the season with a serious knee injury. It was confirmed back in August: “Levi has today undergone successful surgery [for] an ACL injury. Medical assessments confirmed surgery would be the required course of action. Levi will now begin his recovery and be supported by the medical department at Cobham during his rehab phase.”
Dario Essugo - Out
Essugo is not ready to return here. Maresca said at the time: “Dario, he was okay, started some sessions with us, but he needs to slow down a little bit and will be out, but we hope nothing important. We hope he will be fine.”
Mykhailo Mudryk - Out (Suspended)
Mudryk is suspended. A club statement in the summer read: “We can confirm that Mykhailo Mudryk has been charged with Anti-Doping Rule Violations alleging the presence and/or use of a prohibited substance, in terms of Regulations 3 and 4 of The FA's Anti-Doping Regulations. As this is an ongoing case, we are not in a position to comment further at this time.” Mudryk is not included in the final count due to the nature of his absence.