Chelsea Injury Blow: Fabregas To Remain On The Sidelines With Costa

Chelsea have been hit by an injury blow as Cesc Fabregas looks set to miss at least another two games with a hamstring problem, according to the Daily Mail.

Fabregas was forced off during Chelsea’s Capital One Cup semi-final victory over Liverpool at Stamford Bridge last week after suffering a hamstring strain early in the second half.

The midfielder sat out of last Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Manchester City but the injury wasn’t thought to be too serious and there were hopes he may return to action this weekend.

However, the Daily Mail claim that the Spanish international is now set to miss this weekend’s trip to Villa Park to face Aston Villa while he’s also highly unlikely to make next Wednesday’s clash with Everton at the Bridge.

It means Chelsea will be without two of their most important players for the next two Premier League games as Fabregas will join Diego Costa on the sidelines with the striker set to serve the final two games of his three-match ban.

Costa was found guilty of violent conduct after an apparent stamp on Liverpool’s Emre Can and having already sat out the City game, he will also miss the upcoming fixtures against Villa and Everton.

The Blues will then have a weekend off after being knocked out of the FA Cup by Bradford, so the good news is that both Fabregas and Costa will be fresh for Chelsea Champions League last 16 first leg tie away at Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday 17th February.

Fabregas’s injury increases the chance of Juan Cuadrado making his debut against Villa this weekend as John Obi Mikel is also struggling with a head injury. Ramires will more than likely start alongside Nemanja Matic in the middle of the park on Saturday but I think we should see Cuadrado make an appearance during the second period.