Hakim Ziyech and Ben Chilwell may both have to wait for their Chelsea debuts as they are injury doubts for the Premier League game against Brighton on Monday 14 September.
Ziyech suffered a twist in his knee in a friendly game against Brighton last week, while Chilwell was struggling with a heel injury when he joined the club from Leicester City last month.
The Moroccan will almost certainly miss the Premier League opener against the Seagulls, with his return date still unknown, while Chilwell is already back in training but remains a huge doubt for the game.
The England international started training with the blues this week, but has been forced to do so alone due to his injury, so remains far from being match fit.
‘I’m feeling really good,’ Chilwell told Chelsea’s official website last week. ‘The injury is healing really well and I’ve been doing a lot of fitness work over the past four or five weeks.’
Reece James is also a doubt for the opening Premier League game of the campaign after he pulled out of the England Under-21 team this week due to injury.
It is believed to just be a knock and the youngster is unlikely to be out for so long, but Frank Lampard does have doubts on both sides of his back four going into the start of the season.
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Christian Pulisic is also recovering from a hamstring injury, which also makes him a doubt for the Brighton game, while Mateo Kovacic is suspended – which means he will play no part.
“It’s going to be touch and go for the start of the season,” said Frank Lampard when speaking about Pulisic’s return before the Bayern game. “Six weeks probably gets into the start of the season, but we have to treat the injury right.
However, Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and Thiago Silva could all feature in the match.
