Chelsea team news and injury update ahead of Premier League clash with Wolves
Chelsea will travel to the Molineux to take on Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League on Tuesday.
The Blues will be looking to get back to winning ways, having seen their nine-game unbeaten run in the Premier League come to an end after a 1-0 loss to Everton last weekend.
A first-half penalty by Gylfi Sigurdsson was enough to give the Toffees a victory at Goodison Park. Meanwhile, Wolves themselves were also on the end of a 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa.
Chelsea have some injury concerns to worry about ahead of their clash in the West Midlands, and Frank Lampard has given an update on the status of his squad's fitness.
US international Christian Pulisic sat out the clash with Everton but the Chelsea manager on Monday confirmed that the former Dortmund man is in contention to face Wolves.
"He trained on the day we played against Everton and felt better. He’s in the squad tomorrow and it’s yet to be decided whether he starts or not. It’s obviously positive news from the weekend."
Meanwhile, summer signing Hakim Ziyech limped off clutching his hamstring in the 3-1 victory over Leeds United two weeks ago. Lampard confirmed that the former Ajax man is expected to be out until Boxing Day at the earliest, which could see him return for the London derby against Arsenal.
Ziyech's absence leaves Chelsea short on wingers, with Callum Hudson-Odoi also ruled out of this clash.
Speaking earlier in the week, Lampard had said:
''He] had [a] scan and they're showing it will be about two weeks. We didn't know what to expect because it was an injury he got in training a couple of days ago."
Like Ziyech, the England international could be in contention to face Arsenal later in the month.
Chelsea fans were a bit worried when the club's record buy Kai Havertz was substituted at half-time during their defeat to Everton but Lampard stated that it was purely tactical, ruling out any injury concerns for the Germany international.
Chelsea targeting victory to seal temporary stay at the top
Chelsea had a chance to go to the top of the Premier League table with a victory over Everton. However, their failure to do so meant that they were subsequently unable to take advantage of both Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur's slip-ups.
Their defeat saw them drop to 5th place on the table, but a victory over Wolves would see the Stamford Bridge side temporarily go top of the table, pending the outcome of the blockbuster clash between the top two at Anfield.
Chelsea were dealt a blow when the government announced that London had been moved into Tier 3 of their COVID-19 protocols, meaning that the club can no longer allow fans in stadiums.
The west London side had initially been classified in Tier 2, which allowed them to bring in 2,000 fans to Stamford Bridge for the victory over Leeds United. However, this reprieve proved to be short-lived.