Why Joao Pedro is out vs Man Utd as Chelsea get injury update for Brighton

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Joao Pedro was not in Chelsea's matchday squad for their Premier League clash against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge

Joao Pedro misses Chelsea’s clash against Manchester United with a thigh injury, football.london understands. The Blues hosted the Red Devils at Stamford Bridge in their next Premier League fixture on Saturday night.

Chelsea went into the game four points behind Liverpool, who are fifth and occupy the final Champions League qualification spot.

United are currently in third place and seven points ahead of Chelsea, with the game between the two clubs likely to have a key role in deciding which clubs may qualify for the Champions League for next season.

Liam Rosenior named the Chelsea team to face United ahead of kick-off, but there was no place for Pedro in the starting line-up or on the bench.

It’s understood that Pedro is unavailable due to a thigh injury, but there is hope that the Brazilian will be fit enough to return to feature in Chelsea’s next match against Brighton next weekend.

Chelsea were handed a fitness boost for the clash against United, though, with Trevoh Chalobah returning to the matchday squad.

Chalobah has been sidelined since last month with an ankle injury, and was named on the bench by Rosenior and could get his first minutes for Chelsea since the closing stages of the defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.

There was no place for Reece James in the squad, though, with the Chelsea captain continuing to recover from a hamstring injury that has kept him on the sidelines since last month.

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Enzo Fernandez returned to the starting line-up for Chelsea after the midfielder was left out of the matchday squad for the previous two games.

Rosenior emphasised the importance of the game against United as Chelsea battle to secure Champions League qualification.

“I think as the season goes on, the less games you have left, the more important the games become,” Rosenior told reporters in his pre-match press conference.

“We have to take advantage of this moment. We're running out of time.

"We need to show that initiative on Saturday evening and we need to play on the front foot and we need to make up those points, which is still definitely possible.”