Chelsea skipper Reece James could be available to face Arsenal on 21st October
As per Evening Standard, Chelsea have been given some hope in their Reece James return from injury, as the right-back could be available to face Arsenal on October 21st when the Premier League returns following the October 2023 international break.
The 23-year-old suffered a hamstring injury in Chelsea’s opening game of the 2023–24 season against Liverpool, and since then he has been sidelined. Injuries haven’t been kind to James, who suffered a knee injury last campaign and was out of action for plenty of months and before the end of the last season, he sustained another setback.
Malo Gusto, who was signed as James’ backup last campaign, has filled in brilliantly, and he will also be available to face Arsenal after getting a red card in a 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa. Meanwhile, in Gusto’s absence, Marc Cucurella has been used as a right-back and now Mauricio Pochettino will have a big decision to make against the Gunners on whom to play.
It’s obvious James won’t be fully fit enough to face them; we can see him come in as a substitute, as the club doesn’t want to risk his injury and rush him to action and it’s not clear if he has fully recovered to participate against Arsenal.
The fact that James missed seven games and isn’t sufficiently recovered to play the entire game means that even if he is totally fit, he will almost certainly not start the game. Chelsea will be cautious with him because they don’t want him to relapse, which happened multiple times over the course of last season.
While James is in contention, it is debatable if he will be in his best available shape. After all throwing him into the playing XI against Arsenal without James having adequate match fitness could prove counter productive.
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He is only 23 years old, and picking up injuries frequently isn’t a good indication. James is also the club captain, and we will need him to be on the pitch more to lead the squad. Chelsea have won its previous two games. As we take on our London rivals, let’s hope we prevail. A win would be an affirming statement against a side that just defeated Manchester City 1-0.