Injury updates on James, Gusto and Lavia as Maresca heads to Bournemouth

Defenders Reece James and Malo Gusto and midfielder Romeo Lavia will miss Chelsea’s trip to Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday (8pm BST), manager Enzo Maresca has said.

Gusto has withdrawn from the France Under-21 team with a thigh problem, while his right-back teammate James has not featured this season due to a hamstring injury.

“Romeo looks very close,” said Maresca, hoping for Lavia to make his first appearance since Chelsea’s 2-0 opener against Manchester City on August 18.

“What I’m focusing on is the field because it’s the only thing I can control” ⚽️

Enzo Maresca in the ownership saga at Chelsea 🔵 pic.twitter.com/G42ukamhDA

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) September 13, 2024

Chelsea vs Bournemouth

Defender Wesley Fofana and talismanic striker Cole Palmer trained this week after missing out on international duty during the international break through injury.

Maresca said he would “stay” with Ben Chilwell and “find the right solution” to the defender’s predicament after a planned transfer of the England international fell through before the transfer window closed.

“We will see [if] he will come back with us when he goes to train because he is not training with us at the moment,” explained Maresca.

“The reason why he trained separately is because the idea was for him to go. He will probably start training with us – we have to decide on that. I think she is beautiful. I saw him this morning and he is fine.”

🚨🔵 Enzo Maresca: “I really like Carney Chukwuemeka… but we have a lot of attacking midfielders”.

“Unfortunately, we did not find solutions in the summer. Now we can use him”. pic.twitter.com/CJCe5ah10s

– Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 13, 2024

Chelsea are ‘improving’

Chelsea have had a mixed start to their first league season under Maresca, following City’s 6-2 win at Wolves and a 1-1 draw at home to Crystal Palace.

Reports this week suggested club owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali are looking to buy each other, but Maresca has offered little insight into any behind-the-scenes turmoil.

“The players are trained enough to understand that we cannot control these things,” he said. “It’s a platform where the focus is on.

“I don’t know if anything will happen to be honest. I have no idea. What I can say is, on the football side, we are going in the right direction.

“The team is improving. I used the international break to review games. In the three Premier League games we have played, it is true that we conceded goals, but we also let Palace’s first shot hit the post.

“We faced City, we didn’t let so many chances go, which is strange when we face City. Against Wolves, we didn’t concede any shots in the second half.”

Bournemouth have a point above Chelsea after games against Nottingham Forest and Newcastle before their first win of the season in the top flight, recovering from 2-0 down after Everton won 3-2 with the help of two second-half goals. overtime.