Club World Cup: Chelsea suffer fresh injury blow ahead of Fluminense clash

Enzo Maresca has shared updates on the fitness of Romeo Lavia and Reece James as Chelsea prepare for their Club World Cup semi-final against Fluminense.

The Blues will face the Brazilian side on Tuesday night in New Jersey, with a victory against Fluminense advancing Chelsea to the tournament final, where they will face the winner of the Real Madrid vs. PSG match.

Maresca confirmed that Lavia, sidelined by a muscle injury from Chelsea’s Round of 16 win over Benfica, also missed their quarter-final triumph against Palmeiras.

Addressing the media, he stated, “Romeo is training already but is unfortunately not training with us so is not ready for tomorrow.”

Additionally, Maresca faces challenges with suspensions, as Liam Delap and Levi Colwill received their second yellow cards of the tournament against Palmeiras, ruling them out of the Fluminense clash.

New signing Joao Pedro is expected to lead the line, putting Nicolas Jackson's Chelsea career in further jeopardy.