Latest Chelsea injury news with Reece James blow as Enzo Maresca waits on seven players

Chelsea will be without Reece James for the Premier League clash against Leicester City due to injury. The Blues face the Foxes at the King Power Stadium on Sunday in their first match after the November international break.

It was confirmed on Thursday by Enzo Maresca that James will miss the clash against Leicester after suffering a hamstring injury. James has made just four appearances for Chelsea this season after making his long-awaited return from injury against Liverpool last month.

The Blues club captain has played the full 90 minutes twice across the last three matches as he looked to put his injury woes behind him. However, Maresca told reporters on Thursday that James is unavailable to face Leicester as Chelsea seek to avoid the right-back being on the sidelines for an extended period of time.

"He [James] felt something and we don't want to take any risks for the weekend," said Maresca in his pre-match press conference. "He is the only one that is not available for this weekend."

Maresca added: "Hamstring. It's a muscular problem. We don't want to take any risks for this weekend and hopefully it's not something long."

Chelsea will also be waiting on the fitness of Cole Palmer, Levi Colwill, Malo Gusto, Wesley Fofana and Romeo Lavia. Palmer and Colwill withdrew from the England squad, while Fofana and Gusto didn't link up with the France squad during the international break.

Lavia was substituted with a potential hamstring injury in the draw with Arsenal before the two-week hiatus. The midfielder was named in the Belgium squad but did not feature in either of the Nations League matches against Israel or Italy.

Jadon Sancho is another player who is an injury doubt for Chelsea. The forward has been sidelined with illness in recent weeks and also suffered a knock in the days leading up to the draw with the Gunners.

Omari Kellyman remains sidelined with a hamstring injury and is yet to make his first appearance of the season. Maresca gave another update on the injuries within the Chelsea squad, expressing his optimism of having minimal players on the sidelines.

"The rest, some of them are better, some of them are still a doubt and we need to wait," Maresca said. "Today [Thursday] is the first session we do with all the players [returning] from international. So we will see after today's session."

Sign up for Chelsea news direct to your email inbox

Chelsea ended the 2023/24 Premier League season on a high, but it is never quiet at Stamford Bridge and the summer looks set to be one full of news, with question marks over Mauricio Pochettino's future at the club and plenty of talk around transfers.

And by signing up to our newsletter here, you'll make sure you receive the best Blues content including news, rumours, articles and fan opinions - direct into your inbox and all for free!

We also want to hear from you. Create an account here in just a few moments, so you can have your say on all things Chelsea, join the debate and take part in exclusive Q&As as well.