Chelsea FC have no new major changes to their team news, injury and availability situation, ahead of their trip to Aston Villa on Saturday. However, there is still a lot of material to cover on this front, so we’ll just dive straight in on all that, starting with the two strikers, Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu.
Both are out until after the next international break, with injuries in the same general part of the body.
Chelsea FC at Aston Villa FYIs
Kickoff: Sat. Feb. 22, 5:30pm, Villa Park, Birmingham, UK
Aston Villa Preview Material: Starting XI Prediction Team News
PL Position, Form: Chelsea 6th, 43 pts, DWLWL Aston Villa 8th, 19 pts, DDLDD
Google Result Probability: Chelsea 38% Draw 26% Aston Villa 36%
Blues Team News
Guiu has a hamstring injury while Jackson has a thigh problem. The situation is similar for Romeo Lavia, but you never really know with him.
Right now his thigh injury should keep him out until the beginning of April, but as we often see with Lavia, the goalposts keep getting moved back.
The situation is similar with Benoit Badiashile, but he could actually feature before the internationals.
The same goes for Wesley Fofana, with manager Enzo Maresca saying:
“Wesley has started to work with us again as of two days ago, but we cannot rush him, and he will still need at least two or three weeks working before he can be ready to play.”
Meanwhile Noni Madueke also has a hamstring injury, and he’ll be out indefinitely. However, the news is better for right back Malo Gusto, who should be fine to feature here. Otherwise no new updates at this time.
Chelsea FC Starting XI Prediction
Filip Jorgensen; Malo Gusto, Trevoh Chalobah, Levi Colwill, Marc Cucurella; Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Pedro Neto, Cole Palmer, Jadon Sancho; Christopher Nkunku
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, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. 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.