Chelsea team news for Sunderland: the club are waiting on final fitness decisions over Emiliano Martinez and Moises Caicedo, while three players remain unavailable.
Xabi Alonso said on Friday that the last training session on Saturday would help determine his options. His comments do not confirm that either Martinez or Caicedo will play.
Chelsea team news: Martinez trains after jaw surgery
Martinez has returned to training wearing protective headgear after undergoing jaw surgery following Chelsea’s win at Everton.
“Tomorrow we have our last training session before Sunday and we will decide [if he is fit],” Alonso said in the club’s Friday team-news update. “But he is training well.”
Mike Penders has started Chelsea’s last three matches in his absence. Alonso said Martinez had made a major effort to return and was ahead of the original plan, but a final decision was still to come.
The club’s subsequent training gallery included Martinez in the group at Cobham. Being pictured in training is a positive step, not confirmation of match fitness or a starting place.
Caicedo decision still pending
Caicedo missed training earlier in the week after feeling discomfort following the Manchester United game.
Alonso described it as discomfort rather than a calf problem and said the midfielder would be assessed after the final session. A later club update said he had been doing some work on the grass.
There has been no confirmed availability decision in those reports. Any later announcement should take precedence over Friday’s assessment.
Three ruled out, Anselmino in contention
Jorrel Hato, Maxence Lacroix and Joao Pedro will miss the Sunderland match. Alonso said their progress would be assessed over the international break, with Hato still needing more time.
There was a more encouraging update on Aaron Anselmino, who has been training better over the past ten days and has been called up by Argentina.
Alonso said the defender could be in the squad, with a decision also due after Saturday’s training. That leaves his possible Chelsea debut as a possibility, not a confirmed selection.
The practical distinction in the latest Chelsea team news is between players who are back doing training work and those who have been cleared to play. Friday’s reports establish the former for Martinez and Anselmino, while leaving the final calls open.
No official Chelsea video of Alonso’s press conference had been published at the time of writing, so this article carries no embedded video or social post rather than an unrelated one.
Earlier coverage: Everton 0-2 Chelsea: Neto double seals win, Martinez scare, the match in which Martinez suffered his jaw injury.
Sources: Chelsea’s official team-news update, Caicedo and Anselmino fitness update and current training gallery.
Featured image credit: Bryan Berlin / WikiPortraits, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
