Cole Palmer is fit enough to start for Chelsea against Leicester City on Saturday afternoon after he withdrew from Lee Carsley’s final England squad.
The 22-year-old was initially included in Carsley’s squad for this month’s international break, but he was one of nine players – including Chelsea teammate Levi Colwill – to withdraw due to ‘injury’.
Palmer has carried on from where he let off last season, grabbing seven goals and five assists in his 13 Premier League appearances.
The attacking midfielder struggled to make an impact in recent draws against Manchester United and Arsenal (which leaves them ninth in the form table), so he’ll be intent on having a big influence against Leicester after recovering from his reported knee issue. Colwill is also fit enough to start.
Chelsea are involved in the first Premier League game after the international break as they face relegation candidates Leicester City at The King Power Stadium.
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Head coach Enzo Maresca has named his starting XI for this game and has made three changes. His team is as follows: Robert Sanchez, Wesley Fofana, Benoit Badiashile, Levi Colwill, Marc Cucurella, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, Nuno Madueke, Palmer, Joao Felix; Nicolas Jackson.
Maresca has brought Felix, Fernandez and Badiashile in for Pedro Neto, Malo Gusto and Romeo Lavia.
This is a rare opportunity for Felix as he has earned his first Premier League start since his unexpected £46m return to Chelsea in the summer from Atletico Madrid.
Before the international break, most of Felix’s minutes came in the Europa Conference League and he’s scored four goals in their three group matches.
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Colwill joins Palmer in starting after withdrawing from England duty after Maresca confirmed on Thursday that they would be fit to feature against Leicester.
He said: “We have, for sure, just one injured player, that is Reece [James] who unfortunately felt something small and we don’t want to take any risk for the weekend,’ Enzo Maresca said on Thursday.
“He is the only one for sure who is not available for this weekend.
“The rest, some of them are better, some of them are still doubts and also we need to wait because today is the first session that we do with all the players who were with their national team.”
Asked specifically about Palmer and Colwill, Maresca replied: “As I said, yes, some of them are better, some of them we test today. But overall, they are better.”
On James, Maresca added: “It’s a hamstring, it’s a muscular problem. We don’t want to take any risks for this weekend, hopefully it’s not something long.
“I know that it’s not easy but if every time he gets an injury it becomes hard for him, for me it’s even worse. He has to accept that. He has to try to avoid as much as he can, but sometimes things happen, even if you want to avoid that.”
