New Chelsea injury blow as Kalidou Koulibaly is ruled out of crucial Brighton clash

Chelsea will be without defender Kalidou Koulibaly who picked up a hamstring injury against Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

The Senegal defender started in the defeat at the Bernabeu but had to be replaced by Marc Cucurella in the second half after going down and needing medical attention.

Koulibaly who joined Chelsea from Napoli in the summer has had a tough start to life in west London- but just looked to be finding his feet before the latest setback struck.

The 31-year-old Senegal international has played 22 league games so far, and helped Chelsea to five clean sheets in those games.

With games coming thick and fast for the Blues, Koulibaly is not expected to be fit for this weekend’s game and is in a race against time to be fit for the Champions League second leg encounter at Stamford Bridge.

Looking for first win

Chelsea have failed to score in their last four games including the first two under new boss Frank Lampard.

Under Graham Potter they just could not find the back of the net even though they created a lot of chances. They will have to find it within them to get the needed win when a wounded Brighton and Hove side come to town.

Lampard will be delighted to have midfielder N’Golo Kante back, he continued building his fitness in the game against Madrid and is expected to be involved again at the weekend.

The French midfielder had been out action since August last year and is just only trying to get going again after seven months of frustration that meant he missed the World Cup and couldn’t contribute to the short Graham Potter stint.

Having the midfielder fit makes such a huge difference and manager Lampard will hope his return to full fitness comes along with some form of fortune on the field.