Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho confirmed that midfielder Cesc Fabregas is set for a return after missing two games due to a hamstring problem.
Before being asked about Fabregas, Mourinho briefly gave an update about Chelsea’s injury list and said that John Obi Mikel is the only one who will miss today’s game against Everton, “We have only Mikel injured, with a little problem in his knee. Hea s the only one whoa s not in conditions to play.
“After that we have a couple of little things that we have to control until tomorrow but normally [they are] not a problem,” he added.
Fabregas has missed Chelsea’s clashes against Manchester City and Aston Villa in the last few weeks and Mourinho said that the Spaniard will be available, “Yes, he will be,” he said when asked about Fabregas’ availability. “I want to have every player but the team played without him and we coped with the situation. Obviously to have him back is important for us.
Diego Costa will serve his final game of the three-match suspension and Mourinho said that Loic Remy and Didier Drogba will get their chances once again. The duo have done well in Costa’s absence as Chelsea have picked up four points out of six without both Costa and Fabregas. Mourinho said, “We dona t have the player that is suspended. We have to stick with Didier and Loic Remy. Again, we need the suspended player but we coped without him and we got results without him.
“With him it could have been even better, but I trust my people; we always decide not to speak about players that cannot play. We try to forget it and give confidence to the other people,” he added.
Chelsea’s last game against Everton was probably the game of the season, but we could be in for a much calmer game this time. Mourinho is expected to start with Fabregas alongside Nemanja Matic against Everton. Drogba started the last game against Villa, so it’s likely that Mourinho will go with Remy considering that Everton’s back four have had a decent last few weeks.
Eden Hazard, Oscar and Willian are expected to play behind Remy in attack. In defense, John Terry and Gary Cahill are expected to start and will have to be vigilant against their former teammate Romelu Lukaku who hasn’t had a good season thus far and will want to prove himself against his former employers.