Liverpool’s Carabao Cup meeting with Chelsea on Wednesday night may come at a good moment for the Reds.
Xabi ALONSO of Real Madrid during the LaLiga match between Real Madrid CF and Sevilla FC at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on December 20, 2025 in Madrid, Spain. Gustavo Valiente
Xabi ALONSO of Real Madrid during the LaLiga match between Real Madrid CF and Sevilla FC at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on December 20, 2025 in Madrid, Spain. Gustavo Valiente
Liverpool’s Carabao Cup meeting with Chelsea on Wednesday night may come at a good moment for the Reds, with one of Chelsea’s most important players now an injury doubt.
The forward sat out the London derby with Tottenham at Stamford Bridge, missing from the squad altogether, and Chelsea have confirmed he is being assessed.
It is not Joao Pedro’s first setback this season as the Brazilian suffered a knee injury that ruled him out of Chelsea’s game against Brentford before the September international break and forced him to withdraw from Brazil duty.
He came straight back to score twice against Bournemouth, then played the full 90 minutes of last weekend’s 2–0 win over Everton.
That makes this absence more worrying, coming so soon after a run of games.
His importance to Chelsea is clear, with five goals and three assists in the Premier League this season after a 2025/26 campaign in which he was the club’s top scorer with 20 goals, 15 of them in the league.
Alonso’s options are thinning out too, as without Joao Pedro he left Danny Welbeck on the bench and brought winger Geovany Quenda into the side, with Cole Palmer or Morgan Rogers expected to play through the middle.
Chelsea are also without goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez for several weeks after surgery on a fractured jaw, following a collision with Jarrad Branthwaite against Everton, with Alonso saying, “He’s been better, he had the surgery.”
“He will be out for a few weeks.”
“Hopefully less than more.”
The timing could hardly be worse for Chelsea, who face Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday 28 October at 8pm, live on Sky Sports and ITV, and even if the injury turns out to be minor, there must be a real chance he is held back for the cup tie given his recent knee problem and the busy schedule that follows.
For Andoni Iraola, who has dealt with his own injury issues this autumn and still has Sunday’s home game with Brighton to get through, weather permitting, facing a Chelsea side without their first choice striker and first choice goalkeeper could be a welcome boost that makes a difficult cup tie look a little more manageable.
Chelsea are expected to give a further update once the assessment is complete.
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