Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic will not feature against Arsenal tonight having been ruled out for two weeks.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who replaced Kovacic during Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final win over Crystal Palace, is handed another start alongside N’Golo Kante.
Club record signing Romelu Lukaku is also handed a rare start.
Kovacic limped out of Chelsea’s FA Cup semi-final victory against Crystal Palace on Sunday and left Wembley with heavy strapping on his ankle.
Further scans have confirmed ligament damage, with the midfielder set to be out for a minimum of two weeks.
Ahead of Wednesday’s Premier League clash, Tuchel said: “Kova is out for the game, ligament injury. Hopefully not longer than two weeks.
“This is a long time for us in terms of games. Hopefully it will be as short as possible.”
Tuchel also confirmed that left-back Ben Chilwell will not play again this season, despite stepping up his recovery from a knee ligament operation.
The England international is back in light training, but Chelsea do not want to risk a setback by pushing his return.
“(Will he be) on the pitch in a Premier League match? No,” said Tuchel. “I don’t think we will rush this. Ben will now be in the transition to join academy training, to have team training, but not on the physicality level like with us.
“This will be his next steps in the next weeks. Hopefully he can join our training at the end of the season but no matches on that level.”
Chelsea starting XI: Mendy; Christensen, Azpilicueta, Sarr; James, Kante, Loftus-Cheek, Alonso; Mount, Lukaku, Werner
