Leicester City v Chelsea: Blues injury news ahead of game

Romelu Lukaku: The big injury miss for Chelsea, and a big relief for Leicester City fans that he won’t play any part at the King Power, Lukaku suffered an ankle injury in October during his side’s 4-0 Champions League win over Malmo. Lukaku has missed the Blues’ last 5 games but will not make a return on Saturday.

"“I can tell you Romelu [Lukaku is] out for the game in Leicester. Romelu is very close to team training, hopefully he will join the squad on Sunday. Let’s see how this works out. He is pushing hard and trying to come back as soon as possible” Thomas Tuchel via Chelsea.com"

Though Lukaku hasn’t yet hit his goal-scoring stride on his return to Chelsea, the £97.5m man is still a major factor and threat in attack, though don’t be fooled into thinking that Chelsea can’t cope without him; their 7-0 destruction of Norwich proves otherwise.

Timo Werner: Chelsea’s win over Malmo came at a cost, with both Lukaku and Timo Werner picking up injuries in the game. Whilst Werner doesn’t offer the physical strength of Lukaku – and his shooting is still leaving much to be desired – Werner’s pace is truly terrifying and he contributes a lot more to the Blues attack than many would tell you.

When Tuchel spoke on Werner’s fitness, he was more cryptic on the role he will play a role at the King Power:

"“Timo is in team training since yesterday […] Let’s see. We have another training. Then we will decide if it makes sense if he’s maybe in the squad or on the bench. We can only decide after his second training later.”"

It seems that Werner’s return from his thigh injury could be on Saturday, though I would expect to see him on the bench rather than starting. It is one to keep an eye out for.

Mateo Kovacic: Kovacic is the other play that is guaranteed to miss the Leicester clash – he is still recovering from a pulled hamstring that he suffered in training ahead of Chelsea’s 3-0 win away to Newcastle. The former Real Madrid star has been one of the Pensioners’ best midfielders since his arrival at Stamford Bridge.

Tuchel confirmed that it will be a few weeks until the Croatian is ready:

"‘Mateo will take more days until he is ready to join team training. He will miss some more matches’"

Whilst Kovacic is a big miss, Chelsea’s squad depth is frightening, especially in midfield, with the likes of Ballon D’Or contender Jorginho, World Cup winning N’Golo Kante, Saul and Loftus-Cheek who can all fit into the midfield two that Chelsea love to deploy. I think they’ll cope without him.