Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso has revealed that Joao Pedro will be sidelined until after the November international break.

On Saturday evening, Pedro - the Blues top goalscorer - was a surprise absentee from the team that went on to lose 2-0 at home to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.

Alonso suggested at the weekend that Chelsea needed to wait to discover the severity of the injury suffered by the Brazil international, who has already missed a number of weeks of 2026-27 with a knee injury.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of Wednesday's EFL Cup fourth tie against Liverpool, Alonso said that Pedro was suffering with a thigh issue.

While that will be perceived to be less severe than another knee problem, the 25-year-old will miss Chelsea's upcoming matches.

Alonso provides Pedro injury update

The Spaniard told reporters: "Yes, he has an injury on his thigh and he is going to be out for a few weeks.

"Let's see how many. We don't want to predict on that, but he's not ready for the next games."

When asked whether it was a big blow, Alonso added: "Yes, of course, he is a key player. We will miss him, but we will have to be ready to deal with the injury and to be competitive and to try to win games with the players that we have available.

"We are starting tomorrow against Liverpool, a cup game. This is the situation. We are ready to fight for it and ready to prove that we can show the level."

How many games could Joao Pedro miss for Chelsea?

Although Chelsea would have preferred to be playing in European competition, they are now in a position where they have just five matches between Wednesday and the end of November.

Following on from the game at Liverpool, Chelsea play host to Manchester United on Saturday and travel to Sunderland next weekend.

Chelsea and Pedro could then benefit from the two-week international break which follows before Premier League fixtures versus Leeds United and Nottingham Forest respectively.