CHELSEA'S INJURY CRISIS WORSENS BEFORE CRUCIAL LIVERPOOL CLASH
Enzo Maresca reveals Cole Palmer is among eight potential absentees for the Blues, while Arne Slot confirms goalkeeper Alisson will miss the match and the upcoming international break.
According to Enzo Maresca, Chelsea may be without eight players for their match against Liverpool on Saturday since hero Cole Palmer is still absent.
Palmer has suffered from injuries from the beginning of the season. In August, he was forced to miss Chelsea's victory over West Ham during the warm-up because of a groin issue. The England forward returned to the team last month, scoring in consecutive games against Brentford and Bayern Munich. However, two weeks ago, he hobbled off against Manchester United due to a recurrence of the groin problem.
During a news conference on Friday, Maresca provided an update on the condition of his team, stating, "Cole is still out. Trev [Chalobah] has been suspended. For tomorrow, however, we have seven or eight guys out.
"At this time, I have no updates on Cole. This week, we'll meet to assess his condition before making a decision.
In addition to Palmer's injury and Chalobah's ban, Wesley Fofana and Andrey Santos are doubtful, and Levi Colwill, Liam Delap, Dario Essugo, and Tosin Adarabioyo are also sidelined.
In addition to goalkeeper Alisson, who was substituted out of Tuesday's Champions League match against Galatasaray in the second half, Liverpool is also missing long-term absentee Giovanni Leoni.
Due to recent niggles, Hugo Ekitike and Federico Chiesa are doubtful; Ekitike left the game minutes after Alisson was substituted in Turkey, and Chiesa did not play at all.
During his Friday pregame news conference, Slot said, "Alisson is not a part of the squad tomorrow." Additionally, he will not be joining the national squad in Brazil. He will thus be absent on Saturday.
Hugo and Federico are both scheduled to work out again today; we'll see how they go. We must wait and find out their precise location following the session.
When asked if there was a timeline for Alisson's comeback, Slot responded, "That also depends on how quickly a recovery goes." He is obviously not going to play for Brazil on Saturday, and I would be shocked if he showed up for the opening match following the international break.
However, things can occasionally go a little more quickly or more slowly after that. He will not be playing for the Brazil squad in the forthcoming games; however, it's never easy to predict how many days and weeks it will take.
DID LIAM ROSENIOR’S PAST AS A PUNDIT INFLUENCE HIS DEFENSIVE STRATEGY AT ARSENAL?
Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior hits back at critics after a defensive approach saw the Blues exit the Carabao Cup semi-final.
Liam Rosenior stood by his cautious approach after Chelsea couldn’t overturn their first-leg deficit against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semi-final.
Down 3-2 from the first match, Chelsea never really put Arsenal under pressure at the Emirates. In the end, Kai Havertz—of all people—put the game to bed in stoppage time, scoring against his old club.
Rosenior switched things up, going with a back three and playing it safe. He wanted to keep the game close and try to push hard late on. He brought on Cole Palmer and Estevao around the 60th minute, hoping for a spark, but Chelsea still couldn’t carve out real chances. Arsenal just wouldn’t budge.
Pundits didn’t love Rosenior’s tactics and let him know it. He brushed it off. “I’ve been a pundit. It’s easy. It’s easy in hindsight,” he said. “If I go all-out and press high, we could give away two early goals, and then everyone asks what I’m thinking. That’s just how it is. Lose, and you’re hammered. Win, and you’re a genius. Usually, it’s somewhere in the middle.”
Chelsea were up against the league leaders, and with both Reece James and Pedro Neto missing due to minor injuries, Rosenior planned to hang in there and try to frustrate Arsenal—and maybe turn the mood in the stadium.
“That was the idea. You saw it,” he said. “I thought the psychological side of the tie mattered, and you could feel it in the stadium too. At 60 minutes, I brought on Cole and Estevao, and suddenly we had some moments around the box. I think people sensed this game could flip.”
It didn’t happen, though. Rosenior said he couldn’t fault his players for their effort, and in the end, Arsenal’s clinching goal came while Chelsea were throwing everything forward, desperate to turn things around.
IS JOãO PEDRO ACTUALLY BETTER THAN LIVERPOOL’S £79M HUGO EKITIKé? THE STATS REVEAL ALL
Liam Rosenior makes history as Chelsea win three in a row! Discover why João Pedro is the Premier League's best summer signing.
Since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital took over Chelsea in 2022, they've been anything but quiet in the transfer market. In just three and a half years, they've signed 54 new senior players and spent well over £1 billion.
Some of these signings haven’t even made it onto the pitch for the first team—guys like Gaga Słonina, Ângelo Gabriel, Omari Kellyman, and Caleb Wiley, just to name a few. But others have really made their mark. Think Marc Cucurella, Moisés Caicedo, Enzo Fernández and, of course, Cole Palmer. Now, the question is, has one of Chelsea’s latest summer signings done enough to join that group? Is he about to become one of the Premier League’s signings of the season?
Let’s talk about Chelsea’s summer addition and what he’s bringing to the table. It’s been a great week for Liam Rosenior’s squad. On Saturday night, they were 2-0 down at halftime to West Ham at Stamford Bridge. Somehow, they turned it around and won 3-2, with Enzo Fernández scoring in stoppage time to seal it.
That win made it three league victories in a row for Rosenior. He’s now only the fourth English manager to start his Premier League career with three straight wins—joining Bobby Gould, Sam Allardyce, and Craig Shakespeare. Not bad company at all.
Just three days earlier, Chelsea booked their spot in the Champions League round of 16 after a wild 3-2 win away at Napoli. Down 2-1, João Pedro scored twice in the second half to turn the game around. The Brazilian’s goal at the weekend kicked off Chelsea’s comeback, bringing his total to 15 goals for the club—including three at the Club World Cup. So, how does he stack up against other strikers who switched clubs last summer?
Looking at the numbers, here’s how the new strikers have done since moving in the summer of 2025:
Hugo Ekitiké (Liverpool, £79m): 15 goals (10 PL, 2 UCL)
João Pedro (Chelsea, £60m): 12 goals (9 PL, 3 UCL)
Viktor Gyökeres (Arsenal, £54.8m): 11 goals (6 PL, 4 UCL)
Nick Woltemade (Man United, £69m): 9 goals (7 PL, 1 UCL)
Benjamin Šeško (Man City, £66.3m): 6 goals (5 PL)
Alexander Isak (Newcastle, £125m): 3 goals (2 PL)
Liam Delap (Spurs, £30m): 2 goals (1 PL, 1 UCL)
Only Ekitiké has scored more than João Pedro across all competitions, but Liverpool paid about £20m more for him than Chelsea paid for Pedro. In the whole Premier League, only Erling Haaland, Igor Thiago, Antoine Semenyo, and Ekitiké have more league goals than Pedro’s nine.
But stats aside, Chelsea just look more dangerous with Pedro leading the attack. Their last league defeat? He started that one on the bench at Craven Cottage. Since Rosenior took over, Pedro has started and scored in every match.
Chelsea have brought in plenty of players from Brighton during the BlueCo era, but with the way things are going, João Pedro might end up being the best of the bunch.