Five Chelsea stars set to miss Manchester United clash through injury

Five Chelsea stars set to miss Manchester United clash through injury Chelsea Injury Update: Maxence Lacroix Concern Deepens Xabi Alonso Headache Chelsea have a squad issue, not a minor inconvenience. Results have dipped, rhythm has gone, and now the injury list is growing at exactly the wrong time for Xabi Alonso. The latest problem is Maxence Lacroix, who went off before half-time in the Carabao Cup defeat to Liverpool after appearing to hurt his hamstring while tracking Cody Gakpo. It did not look good, and the manager was not pretending otherwise. Alonso said: “Too early to tell. Probably he felt something on the hamstrings. And we need a couple of days to check what’s going to be the injury.” That is where Chelsea are right now, waiting on scans, waiting on clarity, waiting on players. The one bit of good news is that Cole Palmer is available again after serving his one-match suspension following the red card against Tottenham. Beyond that, the picture is far less tidy. For a side trying to settle into a demanding season, these absences are not cosmetic. They affect the spine of the team, the captaincy structure, the attack, and now potentially the defence too. Maxence Lacroix adds fresh uncertainty Lacroix has been one of Chelsea’s regulars this season, and that matters. He has played because he has been needed, and because he has generally been reliable. Losing him, even for a short spell, would force another reshuffle in a side already short on continuity. The manner of the injury is what will worry Chelsea most. A player pulling up after a recovery run and immediately signalling distress usually points to a muscular problem that needs careful management. Alonso’s line was measured, but nobody leaves the pitch with that expression unless there is genuine concern. At this stage, there is no firm return date. Chelsea will assess him over the next few days, but hamstring issues are rarely worth guessing at before the medical staff have all the information. Chelsea’s immediate concern is simple enough, whether Lacroix has avoided a significant lay-off or whether another regular is about to join the queue in the treatment room. Photo: IMAGO Joao Pedro absence leaves attack short Joao Pedro remains out with a thigh injury, and this one already has a rough timeline attached. The Brazilian is expected to miss a few weeks, which points to a return after the November international break, assuming there are no setbacks. Alonso was clear before the Liverpool game. “He has an injury of his thigh and he is going to be out for a few weeks. “Let’s see how many. We don’t want to predict on that, but he is not ready for the next games.” This matters because Joao Pedro has been Chelsea’s leading man in attack. Without him, Alonso has had to improvise. Against Tottenham, Morgan Rogers was used as a makeshift striker in a 2-0 defeat, which tells you plenty about the options currently available. There is also a pattern developing here that Chelsea would rather avoid. Joao Pedro already had a knee issue earlier in the season and even saw a specialist during the previous international break. Now another problem has interrupted him. Not ideal for the player, and certainly not ideal for the club. Before the full extent was known, Alonso had said: “We don’t know yet because he has a lot of fluid. “He felt it yesterday and we need to wait probably until tomorrow to do the test and to know the whole situation and the whole seriousness of the injury. We will know soon enough.” For now, the target is Leeds at home on Saturday November 21. Reece James and Emi Martinez still out Two longer-running cases continue to shape Chelsea’s selection problems, Reece James and Emi Martinez. James is sidelined following knee surgery. It was described as minor, but the reality is more important than the label. He is expected to be out for around three months, which makes him one of Chelsea’s major absentees through the winter period. This came after initial concern over a hamstring issue, then a return to training, then another setback involving the knee. That sequence is familiar and deeply frustrating. When your captain is absent, you lose more than a right-back. You lose leadership, authority, and one of the squad’s reference points. Chelsea have spread the armband around, with Levi Colwill and Moises Caicedo both stepping in, but James remains a significant miss. Mid-January is the current expectation. Martinez’s situation is different, but serious in its own way. The goalkeeper suffered a fractured jaw after a collision and underwent surgery. Alonso offered a cautiously positive update before the Tottenham match: “Emi is doing better. He had the surgery and day by day he is feeling better, but we still need to wait. “A few weeks. Hopefully, less than more, but we need to wait. “The good thing is that he is feeling better and we need to listen to his feelings, the opinions of the doctors, the specialists, the surgeons. Considering it was a bad one, he is doing good.” That is encouraging on a human level, but from a football perspective Chelsea are still without their senior goalkeeper. He was seen at Stamford Bridge in good spirits, which is welcome, though it changes nothing about the timeline. Mid-November remains the broad aim. Pep Chavarria and Jamie Gittens nearing return Not every update is bleak. Pep Chavarria is edging closer after an injury sustained in training. He had been expected to have a chance of involvement in midweek before missing out again, but he has returned to some level of team training. Alonso said: “Pep is training a little bit more, but he is not going to make it [for the Tottenham game].” That suggests his return is not far away, with Manchester United at home on Saturday October 31 a realistic target. Jamie Gittens is in a similar category, though his injury came on international duty with England Under-21s. The ankle problem looked serious enough at the time, with the player later seen on crutches, but Chelsea have indicated a recovery measured in weeks rather than months. Early November is the current projection. In a crowded season, that counts as good news. So this is the state of Chelsea’s injury list. One fresh concern in Lacroix, one key forward still absent in Joao Pedro, a captain missing until January, a goalkeeper recovering from surgery, and a couple of players inching back toward availability. Alonso needs solutions quickly, because the fixture list will not wait for Chelsea to get healthy.