Three Chelsea players will be missing for their match against Liverpool, with Christopher Nkunku and Robert Sanchez facing late fitness tests in addition.
Nkunku may not be favoured among Chelsea supporters at the moment, but manager Enzo Maresca will still hope to have him available on Sunday.
The French forward, who signed from RB Leipzig for £52 million in 2023, missed Thursday’s 4-1 Europa Conference League win over Djurgardens.
Maresca explained: “Christo Nkunku has a small problem.
“When we get back to Cobham, the medical staff will tell me how he is and what his status is. He wasn’t with us in Sweden.
“It is exactly the same for Robert Sanchez too, although he is working on the pitch so compared to Christo, he is a better situation. He wasn’t with us in Sweden either and we will see and assess them both before Sunday.”
While Nkunku and Sanchez’s availability is in doubt, we do know that Wesley Fofana, Marc Guiu and Mykhailo Mudryk will all miss out.
Fofana‘s campaign ended in early April when he underwent hamstring surgery, while Guiu remains out with a leg abductor injury sustained against West Ham in February.
“He could be back for the busy May schedule and the Club World Cup, but Chelsea are being very cautious with him,” the Athletic reported of Guiu.
The third absentee is Mudryk. The Ukrainian has not played since November 2024 after being provisionally suspended due to a failed drugs test.
The winger signed for Chelsea in January 2023 for £62m, which could rise to £89m, but hasn’t yet proved himself, scoring just 10 goals in 73 appearances for the club.
Playing in his left-wing position against Liverpool should be Portuguese attacker Pedro Neto. He arrived at Stamford Bridge for £54m last summer and has netted six times in 40 appearances.
In terms of predicting a Chelsea lineup for the Liverpool game, Sanchez should start in goal if he is fit.
Ahead of him will likely be a backline of Reece James, Trevoh Chalobah, Levi Colwill and Marc Cucurella, with the midfield pair of Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez forced to do plenty of running in the middle.
Neto, Cole Palmer, Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson have been Maresca’s go-to attackers this season and should start again as the Blues aim for Champions League qualification.
They are currently sitting in fifth, which would see them qualify, but Nottingham Forest are behind them only on goal difference, with Aston Villa three points further back.
Predicted Chelsea XI: Sanchez; James, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Madueke, Palmer, Neto; Jackson
