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Chelseavs.Man Utd

sportsmole.co.uk, 3 April 2024, 13:57
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino is confident that Malo Gusto and Trevoh Chalobah will be fit for Thursday's Premier League clash with Manchester United, but Ben Chilwell is set to miss out.

Gusto emerged as a major doubt for the clash at Stamford Bridge when he limped off with an apparent hamstring issue against Burnley on Saturday afternoon.

However, it is believed that the right-back was only suffering with cramp, and Pochettino has revealed that the 20-year-old has trained ahead of the contest with the Red Devils.

Chalobah was not in the squad against Burnley after playing the full 90 minutes against both Brentford and Newcastle United in the Premier League, but he is also on course to return against Man United.

Chilwell is unlikely to be involved on Thursday evening, though, with the England international, who has missed the team's last two league matches with a knee issue, yet to return to training.

Chelsea set for double fitness boost against Man United

"Trevoh and Malo were training with us and I think they will be ready to be involved with us in the squad," Pochettino told reporters during his press conference on Wednesday.

"We haven't seen Chilly since Friday. That is the last time we saw him because the doctor and the medical staff removed from his knee a lot of fluid.

"That was the situation after he arrived from the national team and then on Saturday he got ill and wasn't here on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and today. He is at home trying to recover."

Pochettino was also asked about Christopher Nkunku's fitness, with the Frenchman having a frustrating first season at the club following his arrival from RB Leipzig last summer.

The 26-year-old has been restricted to just 10 appearances for the Blues, scoring twice, and he has been missing since the EFL Cup final with Liverpool at the end of February.

Pochettino unsure when Nkunku could return to action

"At the moment we don't still know when it will be possible for him to start to train with the team. At the moment he is not training with us. He hasn't had a setback, his recovery was longer than we expected," added the head coach.

"It was after the Carabao Cup final, when he played 30 or 40 minutes with a problem that we didn't know about and only found out after the game.

"This type of circumstance affects in the end everything, because it's not only him. There are too many players that suffer this season.

"But I hope that he can be involved again quick, as soon as possible in the team. It will be really good if before the end of the season we can count on him to be part of the team again. So we hope he will be."

Chelsea will be bidding to end their worst-ever league run against Man United on Thursday evening, with the Blues winless in their last 12 Premier League matches with the Red Devils.

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