Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo is ‘optimistic’ that he will be fit to play against Aston Villa after missing the Bournemouth clash, according to the Evening Standard.
During the recent international break, Caicedo played the full 90 minutes in Ecuador’s games against Argentina and Uruguay, helping his team to a 2-1 victory against former Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa’s team.
The 21-year-old returned to England with a knock, suffering a knee injury on national duty and he subsequently did not feature for Chelsea in the 0-0 draw against Bournemouth last weekend.
However, the injury appears to be a minor one as the Evening Standard says Caicedo is ‘optimistic’ he’ll be fit to return for the clash with Villa on Sunday afternoon.
Mauricio Pochettino has had a tough start to life at the West London club so far and injuries have not helped the Argentine’s cause, with several players like Christopher Nkunku, Romeo Lavia, Wesley Fofana, Reece James and Benoit Baidashile also on the sidelines.
Chelsea struggles
Chelsea signed Caicedo in a £115 million deal this summer from Brighton & Hove Albion, but the Ecuador international is yet to showcase the full extent of his talent at Stamford Bridge so far.
The Blues have won just one of their opening five Premier League fixtures and are set to take on Villa on Sunday (14 September), who are doing well this season under Unai Emery.
Chelsea seemingly need a win at home next to kick-start their season; however, Villa are a challenging prospect to get past and look to have a much more balanced team at the moment than the Blues.
Pochettino played Conor Gallagher and Enzo Fernandez in the midfield against Bournemouth and while Chelsea did create a number of chances, it was their end product in the final third that let them down.
Caicedo has shown he can be a game-winner at Brighton with his hard work and tenacity off the ball. However, it will be interesting to see whether Pochettino will risk playing the midfielder next weekend or give him more time to recuperate.
