Chelsea defender Ben Chilwell is set to be missing for the remainder of the calendar year following an ankle injury he sustained in the club’s 3-0 win over West Ham earlier this week.
Chilwell was replaced just ten minutes from the west-east London derby and replaced by the rarely seen Emerson Palmieri.
According to the Daily Telegraph, the scan of the ankle performed showed no significant damage or signs of rupture and the most likely problem is a minor ligament injury. That could put his recovery in around two weeks, which means being out until January.
During that time, Chelsea are set to face Arsenal, Aston Villa and Manchester City, the latter game being January 3. Chilwell would then expect to be in good shape as the Blues face Morecambe in the FA Cup third round on January 10.
In the meantime, it will be up to Emerson to mobilize. The Italy international has barely played in the Premier League this season, despite having started Chelsea’s last two Champions League group matches against Sevilla and Krasnodar when qualifying was tied.
Emerson also played in the Carabao Cup but hasn’t usually even appeared on the bench in the Premier League. This week’s appearance was the first time he has been named to a league team of the day for a month, spending four consecutive missed games.
Marcos Alonso is the team’s other obvious left-back, but the 2016/17 Premier League title winner has fallen completely out of favor with manager Frank Lampard.
Alonso has not been in a Premier League side since being hooked at half-time when Chelsea led 3-0 against West Brom in September. He has been on the bench in the Champions League but has been behind Emerson in the pecking order.
Cesar Azpilicueta can also play left-back, although the club captain replaced injured Reece James on the right instead on Monday night.
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