Chelsea will be without several key players for their Carabao Cup quarter-final trip to Liverpool, with Joao Pedro, Emi Martinez, Reece James, Jamie Gittens and Emmanuel Emegha all sidelined. Cole Palmer is also unavailable after being sent off late in Saturday's 2-0 home defeat to Tottenham, which was only Spurs' second league win at Stamford Bridge in 36 years.
Joao Pedro injury update
Joao Pedro was a shock absentee from the matchday squad against Tottenham, with Morgan Rogers deployed up front and Geovany Quenda brought into the attack over Danny Welbeck or Estevao. Xabi Alonso confirmed before the game that the Brazilian striker had picked up an injury in training at Cobham on Friday, though he did not specify the exact nature of the issue, only that he had a build-up of fluid that prevented scans from taking place.
Those assessments are due to take place on Sunday, when Chelsea will get a clearer idea of the severity of the problem and how long Joao Pedro might miss. The former Brighton star has already been bothered by knee trouble this season, missing the loss at Brentford before seeing a specialist during the international break.
Asked how bad the latest injury was after losing to Tottenham, Alonso 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."
Potential return date: Unknown, pending further assessment.
Emi Martinez and Pep Chavarria
First-choice goalkeeper Emi Martinez was hurt during an accidental clash of heads in the second half of last weekend's 2-0 win at Everton. He received lengthy treatment on the pitch and was taken straight to hospital after being stretchered off. It later emerged that Martinez had required surgery on a fractured jaw and would be sidelined for a number of weeks, leaving deputy Mike Penders to step up.
"Emi is doing better," Alonso said before the Tottenham game, for which Martinez was present and sat behind the Chelsea bench. "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."
Pep Chavarria had been lining up at left wing-back for Chelsea, though missed out against both Everton and Tottenham due to an unspecified knock sustained in training. He was a late withdrawal from the squad to face the Toffees, having made the trip to Merseyside and been expected to start again, only to be replaced by Jorrel Hato. However, the Spaniard has been back in partial team training and should be ready to face either Liverpool or Manchester United this week.
"Pep is training a little bit more, but he is not going to make it [for the Tottenham game]," Alonso said on Friday.
Reece James, Emmanuel Emegha and Jamie Gittens
Chelsea captain Reece James missed the 3-0 loss at Brentford prior to the international break with another hamstring complaint, ruling him out of England contention in the Nations League. He then suffered a knee issue on his return to training at Cobham, sitting out the win over Bournemouth before a specialist recommended surgery as the necessary course of corrective action. James underwent a successful operation that was described by Chelsea as "minor", though he is not expected back in action for approximately three months. Levi Colwill and Moises Caicedo have both skippered Chelsea in James' absence.
New striker Emmanuel Emegha has yet to play a single competitive match for Chelsea due to a hamstring injury suffered after he had scored in back-to-back pre-season friendlies held behind closed doors early in the summer. He was an unused substitute against Luton in the Carabao Cup second round in August but has not made a matchday squad since despite being spotted in training. Emegha's continued absence appeared somewhat of a mystery before Alonso confirmed before the win over Everton that he had experienced a setback at Cobham. Providing another update before the loss to Tottenham, the manager said: "He's feeling better, but we need to wait."
Jamie Gittens sustained an ankle injury while playing for England's Under-21s in a 2027 European Championship qualifier against Kazakhstan at Molineux on September 25. He was seen using crutches after the game and quickly made an early return to Chelsea for assessment and treatment. Alonso initially put a time frame of "weeks" on Gittens' recovery, which he repeated prior to the win over Everton last week.
Potential return dates: Emi Martinez mid-November; Reece James mid-January; Emmanuel Emegha and Pep Chavarria Wednesday October 28 vs Liverpool (A) or Saturday October 31 vs Manchester United (H); Jamie Gittens early November.
