Latest on the fitness of Chelsea trio ahead of Aston Villa clash

Chelsea trio Romelu Lukaku, Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic have had injury and illness concerns to deal with while away on international duty.

As things stand, however, it appears all three have a good chance of being available for Saturday’s Premier League match at home to Aston Villa.

Lukaku nursing ‘minor issue’

Lukaku has revealed he will have a minor thigh issue assessed before returning to Chelsea earlier than expected.

He scored twice in Belgium’s 5-2 win over Estonia last week and scored in a 3-0 victory over the Czech Republic on Sunday in his 100th appearance for his country.

But he picked up a yellow card against the Czechs and will be suspended for Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier against Belarus, so will therefore be heading back to London.

Belgian media have quoted him as saying: “I’ll have a scan of my thigh first – I have been struggling with a minor issue for a while. Then I will return to Chelsea.”

Pulisic back in action

Pulisic, who recently tested positive for Covid-19, saw out the necessary self-isolation period before joining the United States squad.

He was not involved in last Thursday’s match against El Salvador, having stayed at the squad’s training base in Nashville to work on his fitness rather than make the trip to San Salvador.

But he returned to action on Sunday, playing 90 minutes against Canada, and said he felt “pretty good” after the game.

Havertz laid low

Havertz missed Germany’s 6-0 win over Armenia on Sunday with what new boss Hansi Flick described as a “mild flu-like infection”.

He is being assessed and could feature in the World Cup qualifier against Iceland in Reykjavik on Wednesday.