Chelsea will be without Romeo Lavia again for their Boxing Day contest against Fulham, but manager Enzo Maresca has confirmed that the midfielder is now doing “much, much better”.
Lavia has not played for Chelsea since their thrilling 4-3 Premier League win at Tottenham on December 8, suffering a hamstring injury that has since kept him out for games against Brentford and Everton.
The 20-year-old was also sidelined for the Conference League meetings with Astana and Shamrock Rovers, though would surely not have been involved in those games anyway given Maresca’s rotation policy in that competition.
The absence of Lavia has been key for Chelsea, with the former Southampton midfielder having played an influential role under Maresca this term after missing almost all of his first season at Stamford Bridge due to injury.
While the Blues will not have him back for the west London derby at home to local rivals Fulham on Boxing Day, he is now improving with Chelsea also facing a trip to struggling Ipswich next week before beginning 2025 with another London derby at Crystal Palace.
“Romeo is still recovering,” Maresca said of Lavia at his pre-Fulham press conference on Christmas Eve. “He’s much, much better. He’s on the pitch and working but he’s not ready for the next game.”
While Lavia will not be fit to face Fulham, Chelsea will have Marc Cucurella back available after he served his second suspension of the season for the goalless draw at Everton having been sent off after the full-time whistle against Brentford.
Captain Reece James remains out after joining in with part of training recently at Cobham, with Maresca still facing a shortage of defenders with Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile also injured.
Chelsea are also still without Ukraine winger Mykhailo Mudryk, who remains provisionally suspended from football as he awaits the results of a ‘B’ sample having recently tested positive for a banned substance after an “adverse finding in a routine urine test”.
Mudryk insists he has never knowingly using any banned substance and vowed to prove his innocence.
