Chelsea travel to Lancashire this weekend to take on Burnley in the Premier League with the Blues looking to make it three victories on the bounce in the top-flight
07:00, 21 Nov 2025
Alejandro Garnacho and Benoit Badiashile
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Alejandro Garnacho and Benoit Badiashile celebrate(Image: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)
Chelsea could go as high as second in the Premier League table should they record three points away at Burnley on Saturday afternoon.
The Blues are searching for their third victory on the bounce in the top-flight after wins against Tottenham and Wolves earlier this month. The trip to Lancashire is the start of a hectic fixture schedule that runs all the way into January as Enzo Maresca looks to build some momentum at Stamford Bridge.
In order to do that, Maresca will be hoping to have a mostly-fit squad to choose from. Levi Colwill is expected to miss the majority of the season with a serious anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, while Dario Essugo could return either next month or in January after having surgery on his thigh.
Cole Palmer is expected to return later this month from a persistent groin injury, while Romeo Lavia is set to miss at least one month with a quad problem he suffered in Azerbaijan earlier in November. One man that is expected to return - and it has perhaps gone under the radar a little bit - this weekend is Benoit Badiashile.
Badiashile returned to partial team training last week, as reported by football.london. The hope at the time was for the French defender to return to full training this week in anticipation of him travelling to Turf Moor with the rest of the squad this weekend.
It gives Chelsea a welcome boost in the centre of defence with Maresca adding Badiashile to options like Tosin Adarabioyo, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Josh Acheampong and Jorrel Hato for a relentless period of matches. Badiashile will be hoping for an extended run of time on the pitch after recovering from his latest injury, with the former AS Monaco defender missing a total of 60 matches in all competitions due to fitness problems since signing in January 2023.
Maresca considers the 24-year-old an important part of the squad and will too be hoping for Badiashile to have some improved fortune injury-wise. Speaking last month, the Chelsea head coach said: "Since I joined the club, every time I have spoken about Benoit I've always said he's an important player and a very good player.
"Unfortunately, he's been injured a few times since I joined the club, but before the last one he was almost playing every game at the Club World Cup."
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