90min

Chelsea suffer major injury blow for Carabao Cup final

  • Chelsea will be without centre-back Benoit Badiashile for Carabao Cup final clash with Liverpool
  • French defender pulled up late in the impressive victory over Aston Villa
  • Levi Colwill close to return from hamstring injury

By Tom Gott

Badiashile heads to the sidelines
Badiashile heads to the sidelines / Visionhaus/GettyImages
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Chelsea will be without centre-back Benoit Badiashile for around a month as a result of the groin injury he suffered against Aston Villa.

Badiashile partnered Axel Disasi at the back in what was one of Chelsea's best performances of the season but limped off the pitch with just three minutes remaining after picking up the problem.

According to the Evening Standard, Badiashile's groin injury is bad enough that it will keep him out of action for around a month and therefore rule him out of the Carabao Cup final with Liverpool later this month.

Mauricio Pochettino confirmed last week that the Blues will head to Wembley on February 25 without injured midfielder Romeo Lavia and he will also have to do without the injured Badiashile.

Losing Badiashile comes as a significant blow to Pochettino as the Frenchman appeared to have rediscovered his best form after a rocky few weeks. The boss has spoken of the need for consistency in his selections but has now been robbed of the chance to name the same defence for Monday's meeting with Crystal Palace.

Mauricio Pochettino
Another headache for Pochettino / James Gill - Danehouse/GettyImages

The veteran Thiago Silva is expected to return to the team at Selhurst Park. Pochettino had insisted the 39-year-old's omission from the squad that beat Villa was purely down to fitness but there have been growing concerns that Silva's declining physicality could be hindering Chelsea.

Levi Colwill is expected to be named on the bench after several weeks out with a hamstring injury, while Trevoh Chalobah is inching closer to his first appearance of the campaign after battling a thigh injury since pre-season.

Chelsea remain without Robert Sanchez, Marc Cucurella, Wesley Fofana, Reece James and Lesley Ugochukwu ahead of Monday's meeting with Palace.

A draw with Roy Hodgson's side, who are in their own slump, would propel Chelsea back to the top half of the Premier League table on goal difference, while a win would see the Blues move two points ahead of Wolverhampton Wanderers.

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