Chelsea vs Crystal Palace injury news as 9 ruled out and 2 doubts for Premier League clash
All the latest injury news surrounding Chelsea and Palace heading into their opening weekend clash.
The Premier League returns this weekend, and we will see two London sides go head-to-head on opening weekend, with Chelsea welcoming Crystal Palace to Stamford Bridge. The Blues will be expecting to be involved in the title race this season, while Palace will have top half ambitions again as they look to balance Premier League football with Conference League action.
Here we round up all the latest injury news surrounding Chelsea and Palace heading into their opening weekend clash.
Chadi Riad - Out
Glasner has confirmed: “We think Chadi will return after his ACL [injury] in October or November. Now it looks like the timeline of Cheicky is more or less the same.” Riad suffered a serious knee injury early in the new year.
Cheick Doucoure - Out
The same update was issued of Doucoure, who is bidding to return from a serious injury.
Eddie Nketiah - Out
Nketiah is going te out until late September to October with a hamstring issue. Glasner confirmed: “It is no secret Eddie missed more or less the whole pre-season, because on the second day, he had a small [setback], and now he has a more serious injury, and will be out for what looks like eight weeks. Then, without any pre-season, I think it will take him three or four more weeks to be ready.”
Matheus Franca - Out
Franca will be back at the end of this month. Glasner confirmed: “Matheus, it's more the adductor muscle - it's not his groin where he had his troubles [last season]. But let's see. He should return, maybe in 10 days, but he missed pre-season, and this is a little bit tricky.”
Caleb Kporha - Out
Glasner has said: “Caleb has problems with his back and is not able to train and has been out the whole pre-season - we don’t know when he will return.”
Trevoh Chalobah - Fit
There were fears that Chalobah had suffered an ankle injury, but Maresca confirmed otherwise, saying: “Trev is fine; he decided to come off because it was too hot.”
Benoit Badiashile - Out
Badiashile has a small injury issue that is expected to keep him out for at least a couple of weeks. This one is likely to come too soon.
Wesley Fofana - Doubt
Fofana is close to returning from his long-term knee issue. He is expected back for the first weekend of the season, although it’s unclear when he will be ready to start. Maresca has said: “He is training with us. I don't think he's ready to get minutes in the next two games - against Leverkusen and AC Milan - but probably, he can be available for the Palace game [in week one]. It is big news because we started last season in the first five or six months with Wes on the right of our two central defenders.”
Romero Lavia - Out
Lavia is not expected to return just yet. He is expected back in the early stages of the new season, but this one will come too soon.
Dario Essugo - Doubt
Maresca said during the early stages of the summer: “Dario had a muscle problem yesterday during the session, so he is going to be ready for next season.” He will go down as a doubt until confirmed otherwise.
Levi Colwill - Out
Colwill has been ruled out for much of - if not all of - the season after an ACL injury. A statement confirmed: “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.”
Myhailo Mudryk - Out
Mudryk remains suspended due to alleged doping. A statement at the time 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.”