Sidelined: Laim Delap, Cole Palmer and Benoit Badiashile
Chelsea Football Newsletter
The Blues are up to fifth in the table after impressive back-to-back wins over Liverpool and Sunderland, and Enzo Maresca’s side could move second with a win at Stamford Bridge.
Confidence will be high after Chelsea thrashed Ajax 5-1 in the Champions League on Tuesday, though they are still dealing with some fitness issues with some big games on the horizon.
Chelsea face Tottenham, Barcelona and Arsenal in November.
Cole Palmer
Cole Palmer has been hampered by a persistent groin injury all season and has not played since being taken off early in the defeat at Manchester United last month.
Palmer was rested ahead of the October international break but Maresca had said that he could return quickly afterwards, only for it to then emerge that he was likely out until November.
Maresca said before last weekend’s win over Forest that Palmer would be unavailable for another six weeks, meaning he is unlikely to play again until December.
“I was wrong. Unfortunately he needs to be out probably six more weeks,” Maresca said.
Setback: Enzo Maresca confirmed that Palmer will be out of action for another six weeks
“Yes, absolutely [he still doesn’t need surgery]. We try just to protect Cole as much as we can and the most important thing is that.
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“Unfortunately the medical staff, they are not magicians, they never know that you probably need six weeks. We hope that six weeks, they are enough, but it's a problem that we need to see step by step, week after week, but for sure he's going to be okay.
“He looks very good, to be honest, he looks relaxed. He's trying to recover from the injury, he's doing all the therapy that he needs to do, so he looks good.”
Potential return date: Early December
Benoit Badiashile
Benoit Badiashile has made just three appearances for Chelsea this season due to injury.
He was forced off early in the second half of the last-gasp win over Liverpool.
Despite initial optimism, Badiashile suffered what has been described only as a muscular problem and will now not be involved again until December.
“Benoit will be out until December, injury again,” Maresca said before the trip to the City Ground.
“A muscle problem. He was doing fantastic, he showed all of this, he showed how he needed, and we're going to wait for him.”
Potential return date: December
Liam Delap
Liam Delap, one of Chelsea’s high-profile summer recruits in attack, impressed at the Club World Cup but managed just three appearances of his own this season before suffering a hamstring injury in the 2-0 home win over Fulham in late August.
He is also not expected to be back in action until December.
“Liam I think is around 10-12 weeks [out], so a long way to go,” Maresca said in the middle of September.
Potential return date: Early December
Dario Essugo has yet to play a senior match for Chelsea following his summer arrival from Sporting, suffering a thigh injury during a training session with the Portugal Under-21s in early September.
He underwent surgery and the BBC recently reported that the 20-year-old could be out until the New Year.
Potential return date: January
Levi Colwill
Levi Colwill sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury shortly after Chelsea’s return to pre-season training in early August and subsequently underwent surgery.
He is expected to miss most of the season, though will be working hard to play some part after recently returning to the gym.
Potential return date: Late in the season/Summer 2026