Chelsea team news confirms 'miraculous' boost ahead of Arsenal and Spurs clashes

Chelsea have welcomed back defender Wesley Fofana into their matchday squad to take on Southampton at Stamford Bridge tonight, in a huge boost for the side ahead of upcoming Premier League derby fixtures against Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.

The 24-year-old hasn’t played first team football since December 1, when he picked up an injury in the 3-0 win over Aston Villa. That hamstring injury was set to keep him out for the rest of the season, but the former Leicester City man has made nothing short of a miraculous recovery with 12 fixtures still to be played this term.

It remains to be seen whether Fofana is afforded minutes against struggling Southampton this evening. The Blues thrashed the south coast side 5-1 in December and Enzo Maresca could choose to save the defender for fixtures which look more testing on paper.

Wesley Fofana returns from ‘season-ending’ injury

Those could be the league meetings with Arsenal and Spurs. Chelsea face Mikel Arteta’s title-chasing side on March 16 and Ange Postecoglou’s in-form north London outfit after the international break on April 2. There are meetings with Leicester City and FC Copenhagen before then, but Fofana’s return to fitness is especially vital with those derby days in the near future.

The centre-back was a mainstay in the starting XI before his injury in December, having joined Chelsea from Leicester City for £75 million in 2022. Speaking about the player’s injury Maresca said: "Unfortunately he could be out for the season. We don't know exactly for the entire season but for sure he could be out for part of it."

Fofana himself did contest that injury timeline, admitting that he had hoped to be back within four to six weeks, despite his manager’s claim that it could be a season-ending setback.

Enzo Maresca previews Southampton fixture

Speaking ahead of the match, Maresca said: ‘I really think that [it could be tricky vs Southampton]. It's football. I am not saying that for a message, I really believe every game is a tricky game. The differences are so tiny. We need to be focused on how we win the game.

‘We asked for a better performance [than Brighton], and the performance was there. We didn't deserve the final result [vs Aston Villa], but we need to accept that in this moment it's not enough, we need to find something extra to get results.

‘Our duty is to prepare every game to win. From now on, we have 12 games to go and no doubt they are all big games for us.’

In other news, Leicester City confirmed a double sacking this week ahead of fixtures against London sides West Ham and Chelsea this week.