Seven players could be sidelined through injury as Chelsea host Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday. The number could have been much higher, but the international break proved kind to Chelsea.
Three weeks ago, it seemed the Blues could enter the fixture without Cole Palmer, Joao Pedro, Reece James, Moises Caicedo, or Marco Palestra. However, Xabi Alonso confirmed on Friday that all five are "ready to go." Chelsea were also fortunate that injury scares for Mike Penders and Romeo Lavia during the break turned out to be nothing serious.
Gittens out for Chelsea
Jamie Gittens was the only major casualty Chelsea faced over the past three weeks. He picked up an ankle injury while representing England's Under-21s and is facing "a few weeks" out.
Bournemouth are not so fortunate and will be without key player Alex Scott as they travel to Stamford Bridge. The midfielder, whom Chelsea attempted to buy in the summer, made his England debut against Croatia but suffered an injury that will sideline him for at least a month.
Cherries' injury list
"It's an injury from a muscle, and we'll do pictures [scans] in some days again," Cherries head coach Marco Rose said on Thursday. "But we're going to miss him, for sure, for four or five weeks. I'm very disappointed and it's a big loss."
"We miss a very important player, but I don't want to blame anyone. We are very happy that he made his debut for the English national team. He did well and we just hope that he is getting fit again quite soon."
Eli Junior Kroupi remains sidelined with the same foot injury that has prevented him from featuring for Bournemouth this campaign. Julian Araujo is out with a thigh injury, as is Julian Kluivert, who has a minor muscle injury. Amine Adli is a doubt with a calf problem, and Veljko Milosavljevic completes the absentees with a muscular injury.
David Brooks, however, is in contention after skipping Wales duty during the international break.
