Chelsea have been handed a major boost as three of their players are expected to be back in contention to face Aston Villa at the weekend, it has emerged.
The Blues have endured a tough start to the season, with a full first XI out injured and the club limping to just five points from their first five games of the season, scoring just five goals in the process.
Three of those points and goals came at home to Luton Town, yet to pick up a point this season, while defeats to Nottingham Forest and West Ham have also been bookended by draws with Liverpool and most recently Bournemouth.
Nico off the mark! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/5JdZW2FxGc
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They face a tough run of fixtures in the coming weeks, which includes games against Arsenal, Brentford, Tottenham, Manchester City, Newcastle United, Brighton and Manchester United, but they will be boosted by some of their walking wounded returning to action.
As per the London Evening Standard, record signing Moises Caicedo is ‘expected’ to return to action against Aston Villa after missing the draw with the Cherries with a knock to the knee which he picked up on international duty.
He is not the only one, with ‘Noni Madueke and Marc Cucurella also pushing to return against Villa’, though the latter is yet to feature in the Premier League this season even when fit.
In the slightly more medium term, it is added that ‘Carney Chukwuemeka is doing solo training on grass with Reece James’ as the England duo bid to return after the October international break.
However, Romeo Lavia will miss at least another month with an ankle injury, while both Christopher Nkunku and Wesley Fofana remain long-term absentees.
Still, the returnees will be a major boost to Pochettino, who had to name several uncapped youngsters among the substitutes at the Vitality on Sunday due to the state of his current squad.
