Chelsea’s returning striker Romelu Lukaku is in line to make his second debut for the club in Sunday’s London derby against Arsenal, manager Thomas Tuchel said.
Lukaku was not involved in Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday as he was observing coronavirus protocols after travelling from Italy to re-join the club from Inter Milan.
Midfielder N’Golo Kante, who missed Chelsea’s first league game of the season as a precaution after ankle pain, is expected to be involved on Sunday, Tuchel added, but Ruben Loftus-Cheek is out of contention after testing positive for Covid-19.
“N’Golo felt discomfort in his ankle on Friday. He felt it in the warm-up to the Super Cup match against Villarreal. He played a little bit in pain and (on Friday) he felt it again,” Tuchel said.
“We decided to take him out and not take any risk now at the beginning of the season. I think N’Golo will be back in the middle of the week to get ready for Arsenal.