Chelsea confirm they are now without nine players for Leeds United game, including fresh £52m attacker blow

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Chelsea are in somewhat of an injury crisis ahead of their FA Cup fifth round tie with Leeds United.

The Blues enter the game on the back of a 1-0 defeat to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley on Sunday, which was not decided until the final two minutes of extra-time.

With that in mind, Chelsea’s squad is looking extremely stretched, though they were already dealing with a number of injury concerns anyway.

Reece James, Romeo Lavia, Marc Cucurella and Wesley Fofana are among nine players on the sidelines due to long-term injury blows, while Thiago Silva, Lesley Ugochukwu, Benoit Badiashile and Carney Chukwuemeka are all also out.

And in a fresh update on their website today, Chelsea have also confirmed that Christopher Nkunku will be absent as he undergoes ‘medical assessment’.

Nkunku among nine out for Chelsea

Including extra-time, the £52m forward played 52 minutes of Sunday’s final but is now set for a fresh spell out injured, in what has been a difficult first season at Stamford Bridge.

After such an intense game on Sunday, it will be interesting to see what sort of side Chelsea put out due to their injuries, with their bench having been made up of several academy players.

Speaking in his press conference today, Pochettino admitted his squad are ‘feeling tired’, and so it could be a night for Leeds to take advantage.

That said, Leeds also have a number of injury issues of their own and Daniel Farke is likely to rotate his side with such a busy period of Championship matches ahead.

Crysencio Summerville, Georginio Rutter, Dan James and Patrick Bamford are all fresh doubts after their involvement in Friday’s 3-1 win over Leicester City.