Chelsea's reliable defence will be rejigged once again on Wednesday night when they travel to St. Mary's to take on Southampton. Enzo Maresca has successfully built a strong backline this season to help them climb to joint-second in the Premier League.
The Blues have conceded just 14 goals in the Premier League this season - only Arsenal and Nottingham Forest have shipped more. A back four consisting of Malo Gusto, Wesley Fofana, Levi Colwill and Marc Cucurella has corrected some of the glaring problems suffered over the last few years.
However, ahead of the trip to Southampton, Maresca will be without one of his trusted allies in Fofana. The centre-back limped off after 60 minutes during Sunday's win over Aston Villa after suffering a hamstring injury.
The Italian boss confirmed after the game that he could be sidelined for up to five weeks. In his pre-match press conference on Tuesday, Maresca was able to provide further light on the 23-year-old. "We don't have any update at the moment," he said.
"It happened two days ago so we need to wait a little bit. We are hoping to get some more news in the next days but for sure, he will be out for the next weeks, for sure."
Fellow defender Reece James is also out after suffering another hamstring setback. However, the Chelsea captain is making good progress in his own recovery. "He's [in] the same situation, more or less," Maresca added. "He's getting better but he still needs weeks to come back."
Fortunately for Chelsea, Southampton are going through their own problems with player availability. Aaron Ramsdale and Adam Lallana are out with injury with Tyler Dibling, Flynn Downes, Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Chelsea-loanee Lesley Ugochukwu are all suspended.
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
Premier League