Chelsea manager Graham Potter has affirmed that he must be careful with Thiago Silva ahead of Wednesday's Premier League West London derby with Brentford.
The veteran centre-back experienced hamstring tightness after his side's 2-0 win over Aston Villa, and while there is no serious injury there, the 72-hour turnaround will not be kind to his 38-year-old legs.
N'Golo Kante (hamstring), Wesley Fofana (knee), and Reece James (knee) will also take their places on the sidelines for the derby, and the latter is now expected to miss the World Cup after being ruled out for eight weeks.
If Silva is not risked from the first whistle, Potter may introduce Cesar Azpilicueta into the back three alongside Kalidou Koulibaly, who replaced Marc Cucurella at half time on Sunday.
Trevoh Chalobah should therefore be the only centre-back to hold his place in front of Kepa Arrizabalaga, who starred with seven saves to keep Villa at bay as Edouard Mendy watched on from the dugout.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek could fill in at right-wing back for the Blues, which would allow Jorginho to come back in alongside Mateo Kovacic in midfield, but Conor Gallagher has made a strong case of his own to start this one.
Ben Chilwell's spot on the left is safe, as are Mason Mount and Raheem Sterling's places in the final third, with the latter initially struggling as a wing-back at Villa Park before being moved further forward. Hakim Ziyech could recover from illness in time to make the squad but will not be expected to start.
Neither Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang nor Kai Havertz covered themselves in glory at the weekend, but the former will expect to lead the line once again.
Chelsea possible starting lineup: Kepa; Azpilicueta, Chalobah, Koulibaly; Loftus-Cheek, Jorginho, Kovacic, Chilwell; Sterling, Mount; Aubameyang
No Data Analysis info
