Fulham vs Chelsea injury news as 7 ruled out and 5 doubts for West London derby
The latest injury news surrounding Fulham and Chelsea ahead of their West London derby on Wednesday night.
The latest West London derby is almost upon us as Fulham prepare to welcome Chelsea to Craven Cottage. The game will be Calum McFarlane’s last game in charge in his interim spell, with Liam Rosenior having now been appointed as Blues boss.
Chelsea drew with Manchester City last time out, while Fulham have climbed to 11th after a run of four unbeaten, most recently snatching a late point against Liverpool. Here we round up the injury news surrounding both teams.
Rodrigo Muniz - Out
Muniz is out until some time in February. Silva said in his last update: “He's getting better. I was just speaking with him, and he's getting good feelings. He's doing individual work on the [training] pitch.”
Calvin Bassey, Samuel Chukwueze, Alex Iwobi - Out (International)
All three are away for the African Cup of Nations.
Joshua King - Doubt
King is not expected back for another week or so, but there hasn’t been any fresh update. Silva said last week: “Let's hope nothing serious with Josh - two days ago, something in his knee. Yesterday he trained, but after the session he was a little bit sore. Probably, more of a precaution, but he was not in condition for the game. Let's see how he's going to react.”
Kenny Tete - Doubt
It’s a similar situation with Tete. Silva said on New Year’s Day: “He felt something in his hamstring, probably not so serious. Right now, I cannot say if he's going to be ready or not. Probably not ready for the next game, very tight, the games come thick and fast.”
Ryan Sessegnon - Fit
Silva has confirmed: “Probably, we are going to have Sessegnon ready to be in contention.”
Marc Cucurella - Doubt
Calum McFarlane said of Cucurella: “We are training in a few hours, and they will all be taking part in the session. We will have a better idea [on availability] after the session. But at this point, nobody is ruled out. We will see how the guys look, and then make a call after that.”
Wesley Fofana - Doubt
McFarlane said: “He will be checked today when he comes in. The lads are reporting [to Cobham] shortly.”
Robert Sanchez - Doubt
The same update was offered of Sanchez.
Romeo Lavia - Out
Lavia is not expected back from his hamstring issue until early January. 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 likely to return in January. 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.