Chelsea are set to take on Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon.
It’s the 13th league game of the season for the two clubs, who are only meeting for the first time in this campaign.
Newcastle are seventh on the Premier League table after picking up 20 points from their first 12 games, while Chelsea are three places behind them in 10th, with 16 points.
Like Chelsea, Eddie Howe’s side go into the clash with some of their key players injured, with Sven Botman (knee), Callum Wilson, Matt Targett (both hamstring), Dan Burn, Elliot Anderson (both back), Harvey Barnes (foot), Jacob Murphy (shoulder) and Javi Manquillo (groin) all facing lengthy spells on the sidelines– although a few other players with minor injuries are expected back in time for the Magpies.
Speaking ahead of the game at his Press conference on Friday, the Newcastle boss said: “I don’t want to give too much away.
“I think the majority of players we’ve spoken about previously are longer-term injuries.
“We’re looking at probably January for a few of them. There’s a couple of others who sooner, we hope, they can be back involved and help us through December.”
Speaking on Botman in particular, Howe said: “We know what his injury is, but we’re unsure at this moment in time how long Sven is going to be out.
“We’re hoping it’s not going to be too long. We’re hoping he can rejoin the group pretty quickly, but there is a chance that might not happen so we’re keeping everything crossed.”
On Sean Longstaff and Alexander Isak possibly returning to play Chelsea, the former Bournemouth manager added: “We have to be sensible with what we ask [Isak] to do.
“He’s hugely important to us but we want him on the pitch. So that’s going to be important.
“We’ve seen the best of him but the best is yet to come. Games like Tottenham last season we saw him at his best. He will be disappointed with his last injury. It was him trying to score his hat-trick against West Ham.”
Howe however, confirmed that Fabian Schar and Miguel Almiron are both fit to play against Chelsea after the dup recovered from their respective injuries in time for Saturday afternoon.
“Fabian (Schar) was more precautionary rather than any injury – we saw him yesterday, he seemed good,” he said. “Miggy (Almiron) has worked really well over the international break since his hamstring. We’ve had a very small squad. Players came back yesterday, so good to see the group back together. We’re ready for the game.”