Nicolas Jackson remains suspended for Chelsea, so he won’t be able to feature at Nottingham Forest on Championship Sunday. Jackson, who drew red and got sent off at Newcastle, will be available for the Conference League Final however. The problems that accompany the absence of Jackson are compounded by the injuries to Marc Guiu and Christopher Nkunku.
Let’s start with Nkunku, who has not played since the shock Conference League quarterfinal second leg home loss to Legia Warsaw over a month ago.
Championship Sunday FYIs
Chelsea FC at Nottingham Forest
Kickoff: Sunday, May 25, 2025, 4pm, City Ground, West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, UK
Chelsea Preview Material: Team News Starting Lineup Prediction
Odds: Chelsea win 45%, Draw 26%, Nottingham Forest win 39%
Premier League position: Chelsea 4th, 66 pts, Nottingham Forest 7th 65 pts
Blues Team News
Chelsea have not disclosed what is actually wrong with him, so it is hard to say when he might be back. Also, they have referred to his injury has only just a minor one, but if that is the case, why has he been gone so long? It’s not really minor then, is it?
We’ll see if Nkunku can return on Sunday, but who knows. Ditto for Guiu, who has been absent since March 3 with a hamstring problem.
“Unfortunately, Marc is still coming back from injury,” Blues boss Enzo Maresca said on Thursday. “He has started to train with us recently but is not ready to start. So we are working on different options for Friday night in the absence of Nico [Jackson].”
In other words, the selection crisis continues in the final third.
Meanwhile Mykhailo Mudryk remains indefinitely suspended, but at least Jadon Sancho is now back eligible again for this weekend.
He was ineligible to feature last weekend, because Chelsea’s opponent was his parent club, Manchester United.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter