It’s mid-January, and we have a London derby coming up where Brentford, not Chelsea, are the team higher up in the table. Now who would have seen that coming in the preseason? Brentford are this year’s surprising smaller club, getting results that are far beyond expectations. As for Chelsea, well, this is why they replaced their manager, yet again, this season. The Blues also have some fresh unavailability concerns for the weekend fixture due to illness, in Jamie Gittens and Liam Delap, and minor injuries, via Cole Palmer and Reece James.
Chelsea vs Brentford FC FYIs
Kickoff: Sat. Jan. 17, 3pm, Stamford Bridge, London, UK
PL Position, Form: Chelsea 8th 31 pts, DLDDL Brentford 5th, 33 pts, WWDWW
Result Probability: Chelsea 57% Draw 23% Brentford 20%
Blues Team News
We start with Gittens and Delap, who missed out on the 3-2 loss to Arsenal, in the EFL Cup semifinal first leg, as they are dealing with very high fevers.
As Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior put it, they have had “dangerously high temperatures.”
As Rosenior said, after the defeat to Arsenal on Wednesday:
“Jamie Gittens was ill last night, Liam Delap was due to play today. He was ill four hours before the game. He couldn’t play. Moisés Caicedo was suspended, Malo Gusto was out.
“There’s a lot of positive aspects from the group today.
“I want to keep the ill players away from the group so it doesn’t spread. I felt the energy levels of my group today was a really, really positive thing.”
In terms of the fitness issues, Romeo Lavia, Dario Essugo and Levi Colwill remain sidelined as longer-term injury absentees.
Meanwhile James (hip injury), Palmer (thigh strain) and yes, Malo Gusto (unspecified) all face late fitness tests in order to make the matchday squad here.
“Cole, yes, this game came too early for him,” said Rosenior.
“Hopefully, he’ll be available to train on Friday and hopefully he’ll be ready for us to play on Saturday. But he had a little minor strain in his thigh.
“If you play a player too early in January with a minor strain, it can turn to six weeks. I can’t afford to lose Cole Palmer for six weeks because he’s that good.
“Reece [James] had a big knock on his hip. It was too sore for him today, so hopefully he’ll be back for Saturday.”
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, RG.org and Ratings.org. 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 and the Washington Post.