Chelsea return from the international break with (yet another) lunchtime kickoff on Saturday. This start time is never not annoying, but especially so when it’s right after an international break, and
doubly so when we have to travel a fair distance.
Alleviating the situation a bit is the fact that some key players, such as Enzo Fernández and Pedro Neto, opted out of international duty over the past couple weeks, getting some much needed rest and hopefully a bit of recovery as well for the various knocks and injuries that had been ailing them. And even some of those who did join up with their national teams got to enjoying a reduced workload, with the likes of Reece James and João Pedro playing in only one of the two games.
Unfortunately, Moisés Caicedo and Marc Cucurella both logged two full-90’s. They’ll get to rest when the 3I/ATLAS comet smacks into our planet, I guess. Jamie Gittens also started two games, shaking off an injury scare to log 90 minutes in his second outing.
Eagle-eyed viewers claim to have seen Cole Palmer in a training picture released by Chelsea this week, but even if that were the case, Palmer probably won’t be ready to return to action until midweek at the earliest. Benoît Badiashile did return to training for sure. Roméo Lavia, Dário Essugo, and Levi Colwill remain out.
It’s the start of a huge week for the Blues, with Barcelona at the Bridge and Arsenal away coming up after this trip to Burnley.
