Chelsea hit by shock injury blow ahead of Man United & Newcastle United as key player ‘left out’

Chelsea are guaranteed to finish in the bottom half of the Premier League for the first time since the 1995-96 season as they travel to face Man United at Old Trafford on Thursday night (8pm kick-off). Frank Lampard’s side then host Newcastle at Stamford Bridge in the final match of the 2022-23 season on Sunday (4:30pm kick-off).

And Chelsea have been hit with several injury issues, the most recent of which being Benoit Badiashile, who has been ruled out for ‘months’ with a hamstring injury.

Chelsea caretaker manager Lampard said ahead of the trip to Manchester: “It’s a big blow for [Badiashile]. I’m really disappointed for him.

“He’s come here and he’s impressed. In the games just before he got injured, I was really happy with him. I think he’s going to be a really good player for the club.

“The injury is unfortunate. It’s a bit of a complicated injury in his hamstring. We’re probably talking months rather than weeks, unfortunately.

“That’s all I’ll say at the minute. It’s a little bit complicated for him. But hopefully for him, the time of it being over the summer means he’s not missing games and he comes back stronger.”

Mason Mount, Ben Chilwell and Reece James are all out for the Man United game and will be major doubts to face Newcastle on Sunday. Joao Felix is likely to return after missing the 1-0 defeat to Manchester City with a slight knock.

Despite no obvious injury concern, there are slight question marks over Raheem Sterling after the 28-year-old was omitted from the England squad in order to focus on ‘recuperating his body’. Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope was also left out of Gareth Southgate’s squad after having surgery on a hand injury that forced him to withdraw from the March internationals.

Magpies duo Kieran Trippier and Callum Wilson have been included in the squad as England prepare to take on Malta and North Macedonia in the Euro 2024 qualifiers next month.