Injury Blow For Chelsea as Captain Gary Cahill a Doubt to Face Arsenal in EFL Cup

Chelsea could be without Gary Cahill as they face Arsenal in the second leg of their EFL Cup semi-final on Wednesday.

The defender limped off with a muscular injury against Leicester City six days ago and has already been ruled out of the Saturday lunchtime clash with Brighton this weekend.

While Cahill is close to recovering, it seems more likely he will return in the fourth-round FA Cup tie against Newcastle on Sunday week.

The Chelsea skipper is one of four key first-team players Antonio Conte will be without for the trip to the Amex Stadium.

Cesc Fabregas is struggling with a hamstring injury picked up during training ahead of the FA Cup third-round reply win over Norwich and remains a doubt to face his former club next week.

Pedro and Alvaro Morata are both serving one-game bans after picking up two yellow cards during the shootout victory.

The former Barcelona man was cautioned during normal time for diving before a reckless challenge saw him dismissed three minutes before the end of extra time.

Morata, replacing Michy Batshuayi on 81 minutes, was shown two yellow cards in quick succession after first being booked for diving and then remonstrating with the referee for his marching orders

SOURCE: All Football

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Injury Blow For Chelsea as Captain Gary Cahill a Doubt to Face Arsenal in EFL Cup

Chelsea could be without Gary Cahill as they face Arsenal in the second leg of their EFL Cup semi-final on Wednesday.

The defender limped off with a muscular injury against Leicester City six days ago and has already been ruled out of the Saturday lunchtime clash with Brighton this weekend.

While Cahill is close to recovering, it seems more likely he will return in the fourth-round FA Cup tie against Newcastle on Sunday week.

The Chelsea skipper is one of four key first-team players Antonio Conte will be without for the trip to the Amex Stadium.

Cesc Fabregas is struggling with a hamstring injury picked up during training ahead of the FA Cup third-round reply win over Norwich and remains a doubt to face his former club next week.

Pedro and Alvaro Morata are both serving one-game bans after picking up two yellow cards during the shootout victory.

The former Barcelona man was cautioned during normal time for diving before a reckless challenge saw him dismissed three minutes before the end of extra time.

Morata, replacing Michy Batshuayi on 81 minutes, was shown two yellow cards in quick succession after first being booked for diving and then remonstrating with the referee for his marching orders

SOURCE: All Football

Read More

Injury Blow For Chelsea as Captain Gary Cahill a Doubt to Face Arsenal in EFL Cup

Chelsea could be without Gary Cahill as they face Arsenal in the second leg of their EFL Cup semi-final on Wednesday.

The defender limped off with a muscular injury against Leicester City six days ago and has already been ruled out of the Saturday lunchtime clash with Brighton this weekend.

While Cahill is close to recovering, it seems more likely he will return in the fourth-round FA Cup tie against Newcastle on Sunday week.

The Chelsea skipper is one of four key first-team players Antonio Conte will be without for the trip to the Amex Stadium.

Cesc Fabregas is struggling with a hamstring injury picked up during training ahead of the FA Cup third-round reply win over Norwich and remains a doubt to face his former club next week.

Pedro and Alvaro Morata are both serving one-game bans after picking up two yellow cards during the shootout victory.

The former Barcelona man was cautioned during normal time for diving before a reckless challenge saw him dismissed three minutes before the end of extra time.

Morata, replacing Michy Batshuayi on 81 minutes, was shown two yellow cards in quick succession after first being booked for diving and then remonstrating with the referee for his marching orders

SOURCE: All Football

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Chelsea v Bournemouth Will Be Interesting

Chelsea v Bournemouth can be decisive. The hosts have enjoyed an excellent run of form in recent weeks. They have won seven out of their last 10 games in all competitions, losing only once. The Blues went down 1-0 to West Ham United in the Premier League before beating Huddersfield Town 3-1 and Southampton 1-0.

In their last Carabao Cup clash, Antonio Conte's men beat Everton 2-1 with a number of second-string players earning starting positions. Michy Batshuayi, Charly Musonda, Kenedy, Danny Drinkwater, Davide Zappacosta, and Ethan Ampadu all made the starting XI and are expected to get another chance.

"I want to continue to give the chance to players that are not playing with regularity," Conte told Chelsea TV.

"I want to continue this way, but at the same time we want to reach the semi-final."

Meanwhile, the Cherries will be eager to put their recent defeats behind them with a strong performance against the Premier League champions. Eddie Howe's charges lost 1-0 to Manchester United before a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Liverpool on Sunday.

Bournemouth also haven't won in their last six games, drawing three. The cup may be the ideal opportunity for them to find some form heading into a busy Christmas schedule.

"Naturally our focus goes to the next game on Wednesday against Chelsea," said Howe, according to Sky Sports.

"It is a really tough draw for us but we are looking to break fresh ground for the club.

"We've never been into a semi-final of a major cup competition and that is a great carrot for us.

"To try and achieve that would be fantastic so we go into this game desperately trying to win."

Chelsea are likely to be without centre-back David Luiz due to a knee injury.

Bournemouth are still missing defenders Tyrone Mings and Brad Smith.

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