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Chelsea manager Graham Potter has confirmed that five first-team players will miss his team's Premier League clash against Fulham this weekend.
The Blues will host the Cottagers at Stamford Bridge on Friday (February 3). They will, however, take on Marco Silva's side without multiple key players. Their list of absentees includes N'Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, Armando Broja, Christian Pulisic and Denis Zakaria.
Potter did have some positive news on the injury front, however, and said (as quoted by football.london):
"Ben Chilwell, Reece James, Raheem Sterling and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are [in] the squad, [will] not [play] 90 minutes. Wesley [Fofana] partly with the team, stepping up next week."
Kante has notably not featured for Chelsea since their second Premier League match of the season, a 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur back in August 2022. The Frenchman is yet to recover from a long-term hamstring injury.
Zakaria, on loan from Juventus, has grappled with multiple injuries since arriving at Stamford Bridge last summer. He has impressed when he has played, but has made just nine appearances for the Blues this term. The Swiss midfielder is also currently nursing a hamstring injury.
Broja, meanwhile, is expected to miss the rest of the season due to a cruciate ligament injury. The Albanian striker sustained the long-term injury during Chelsea's mid-season friendly against Aston Villa in December 2022.
Kovacic has been a regular feature for Potter's side this season. However, he missed their last league match, a 0-0 draw against Liverpool, and seems to be carrying an unspecified injury.
Lastly, Pulisic sustained a knee injury during the Blues' 1-0 league defeat to Manchester City last month. He is also expected to spend some more time on the sidelines.
Chelsea clashed against Fulham only last month
Friday night's match will be the second Premier League meeting between Chelsea and Fulham in less than three weeks.
The two London outfits notably clashed at Craven Cottage on January 12. Former Blues star Willian put Marco Silva's side ahead in the 22nd minute, but Kalidou Koulibaly equalized for the visitors just two minutes after half-time.
Joao Felix, who was making his debut for Graham Potter's side after joining on loan from Atletico Madrid, was then sent off in the 58th minute. This propelled Fulham's charge, with Carlos Vinicius scoring the winner just 15 minutes after Felix's dismissal.
