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Chelsea and Fulham have both been handed new injury concerns ahead of their London derby in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge on Saturday lunchtime.
Enzo Maresca's side comfortably dispatched of West Ham United last Friday night without Cole Palmer. The Blues' talisman appeared to suffer a groin injury in the warm up at London Stadium but Maresca later confirmed the issue was pre-existing.
"The Palace game, he was not 100%," he revealed. "But he is trying to make a big effort for the club, for the team, for the fans. Tonight again he tried again, but it was not very good."
Seven days have passed since that update, but it does not look as though he has recovered with Maresca ruling him, and Benoit Badiashile as well as Romeo Lavia out of the clash against Fulham.
On Friday, when asked for the latest team news, he admitted: "Cole [Palmer] is out, Benoit [Badiashile] is out, Romeo [Lavia] is out. And the rest are okay." The latter duo have not featured since the Club World Cup knockout stages.
The Chelsea boss later provided a more detailed update on when those three players may be able to return. "Cole, we need to see day by day," he said. "And the other two, I don't think they're going to be back after the international break, but they're going to be more close."
Omari Kellyman and Mykhailo Mudryk are other Chelsea stars unavailable due to very different reasons with potential return dates for either unclear.
As for Fulham, Marco Silva had minimal injury problems until he revealed a slight triple concern with Timothy Castagne, Issa Diop and Harry Wilson during his pre-match press conference.
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"Some knocks, nothing really serious apart from Timothy (Castagne) a little bit. Issa (Diop), too. But I really believe they are going to be available," Silva said. "Harry Wilson, we are going to see how he feels tomorrow, and we will take a decision."
Castagne was dealing with an ankle injury during pre-season but has started Fulham's last two games. There was also a lack of clarity surrounding Rodrigo Muniz amid strong transfer links to Atalanta.
However, that move to the Italian club fell through earlier this month with Muniz coming off the bench to score against Brighton. He then started the 1-1 draw against Manchester United this past weekend and is therefore fully expected to remain at Craven Cottage.
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