11 players who will miss Chelsea vs Sunderland as Enzo Maresca gifted late double boost

Chelsea and Sunderland will go into Saturday's Premier League clash with several casualties with bothEnzo Maresca and Regis Le Bris working with a restricted squad.

The Blues welcome the Black Cats to Stamford Bridge for the first meeting in London between the two teams since May 2017. After eight games of the Premier League season, the two teams find themselves level on 14 points.

Maresca's men currently sit above Sunderland on goal difference after last week's 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest.However, the visitors have surprised many with their return to the top flight, sitting nine points above the relegation zone.

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On Saturday, Chelsea will be hoping as high as second in the table with three points. However, Maresca will once again be forced to utilise his squad. Fortunately, Enzo Fernandez is back after playing 45 minutes inWednesday night's Champions League win over Ajax.

It was unclear whether the midfielder would be fit or not after missing the win over Forest, but he started and scored in a resounding first-half display. Wesley Fofana also returned after missing a month of action.

It means that Chelsea will be without six first-team players on Saturday. Malo Gusto will be unavailable due to suspension after receiving a red card last week, which was not applied in mid-week.

Cole Palmer faces another five weeks out, while Benoit Badiashile will be missing until December with a muscle problem. "Benoit will be out until December," he said. "He is injured again with a muscle problem. He was doing fantastic, showing how good he is, and we will wait for him."

Midfielder Dario Essugo has been out since early September after undergoing surgery on a thigh injury. The summer signing suffered the issue while on international duty with Portugal's Under-21s.

Levi Colwill has been missing since August, following an ACL injury. A club statement read: "Medical assessments confirmed surgery would be the required course of action. Levi will now begin his recovery and be supported by the medical department at Cobham during his rehab phase."

For Saturday's visitors, Le Bris has been handed a fresh blow ahead of their trip to Stamford Bridge with defender Omar Alderete out with a concussion. The centre-back clashed heads with Marshall Munetsi during the win over Wolves last weekend.

It means that Sunderland will be forced to tweak their defence, and left-back Reinildo is expected to be back in the matchday squad after completing his three-match ban.

Fellow summer signing Habib Diarra is a long-term absentee after requiring surgery a month ago. The midfielder suffered a groin injury against Aston Villa and isn't due to return until December.

Romaine Mundle, Dennis Cirkin, Leo Hjelde and Aji Alese are all players who are yet to play this season but are all currently unavailable.