Chelsea fans question star player
Chelsea fans question star player's absence
Chelsea fans are questioning the absence of Reece James from the matchday squad for the second time this week. The Englishman missed the Carabao Cup second leg against Arsenal and is now out of the Premier League game against Wolverhampton.
Liam Rosenior has kept faith in Robert Sanchez in goal, with Filip Jorgensen still out injured. Malo Gusto starts at right back, with Marc Cucurella on the opposite flank, while Trevoh Chalobah and Wesley Fofana play between them.
Andrey Santos and Moises Caicedo are the players in the pivot, with Enzo Fernandez getting a free role in attack. Cole Palmer is on the right wing, and Pedro Neto is back to start on the left.
Joao Pedro leads the attack after impressing in the last three matches. Chelsea fans have no complaints about the starting XI, but James's absence from the match squad again has been the talking point. Many posted:
Liam Rosenior had admitted that he was unsure about Reece James and Pedro Neto, but had ruled out Jamie Gittens for the next few weeks. He revealed that the hamstring injury was going to keep the winger on the sidelines and said:
"Jamie, he's looking a little bit more long-term. It's a real shame for him. He's got a tear in his hamstring, which is a real shame for him. I have not worked with him for too long. Obviously, I know about his career and what an outstanding player he is. Yeah, so that's going to be a big miss for us."
Reece James did not miss any matches through injury in 2025.
Liam Rosenior unsure if Chelsea star can play back to back 90 minutes
Chelsea have had injury issues with Cole Plamer this season and the Englishman is slowly getting back into his groove. However, Liam Rosenior is unsure if the star player can play back-to-back full matches and said:
"I think that's another really hypothetical question. What we're doing with not just Cole, all of the players. We have the very best medical team. We have the very best sports science team. We do many tests. We want to make sure that these players can play at the level that they need to play at to help us win."
"So, in terms of Cole, there isn't a time frame where he's going to be perfect in a month or two months or three months. It's just game-to-game. And that's the way that we've been working with him. And I think that is the way we will have to continue working with him and a few of our players."
Mamadou Sarr, who returned from his loan at Strasbourg, makes the Chelsea bench.