Chelsea host Manchester United this weekend with both teams set to be without key players

As many as 13 players could be unavailable for Chelsea's clash with Manchester United this weekend, with both sides set to be hampered by injury concerns. Xabi Alonso's side welcome an under pressure Michael Carrick who knows that anything short of victory might spell the end of his spell as Man United manager, having secured merely two wins across all competitions this campaign.

Chelsea, on the other hand will be looking to bounce back from defeat to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup. Alonso's squad are dealing with a mounting injury crisis, though they have received some encouragement ahead of the encounter.

The Blues boss confirmed that Pep Chavarria and Moises Caicedo are in contention to feature once more, with Cole Palmer also returning following the completion of his ban.

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Nevertheless, Chelsea could still find themselves without as many as seven key players, with Maxence Lacroix picking up an injury blow earlier this week.

The Blues defender appeared to sustain a hamstring problem during Tuesday evening's Carabao Cup fourth round tie against Liverpool, pulling up sharply in the dying moments of the first half, clutching the back of his left thigh.

Alonso confirmed in his press conference: "Max picked up an injury and we expect he is not going to be ready before the international break. He will be a few weeks out." football.london understand that there are fears the centre-back could be set for an extended time out, however.

When asked if Emiliano Martinez could return between the sticks before the forthcoming international break, the Blues manager responded: "There's a chance.

"We still need to wait until next week, but there's a chance," Alonso added. "In case he's ready to play, he will probably need a face mask."

When asked about Jorrel Hato and Pep Chavarria, both of whom were absent from the matchday squad on Tuesday evening, the Spaniard confirmed: "Jorrel, no, but Pep Chavarria, yes."

Chelsea could also be without Reece James, Joao Pedro, Jamie Gittens and Malo Gusto this weekend.

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Carrick will be forced to make do without six players for the journey to the capital, with Benjamin Sesko among the absentees.

Sesko endured a major blow this week as Carrick confirmed the frontman is facing an extended period out of action.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, the United boss said: "Yeah, unfortunately Ben looks like he's going to be out for a period of time. We're still not clear of exactly how long, but it's going to be for a longer period of time.

"It was the process, as I said to you before, we had to go through the process, a bit of a healing process for the injury to see how it would react and what direction to go with that. Even now we're still working through it.

"But it's unfortunate, obviously first and foremost, for Ben, for the kind of period that he's had, and tried to get through it and going through this again. And for us to not have him available is obviously a blow, but we'll try and get back, get him back as quick as we can."

Kobbie Mainoo could be in line to return to action this weekend, though Carrick acknowledged the England international had only completed limited training this week – a welcome piece of positive news for the Red Devils.

The fixture could come too soon for Marcus Rashford, with Luke Shaw, Patrick Dorgu and Manuel Ugarte also anticipated to sit out the match against the Blues.