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Enzo Maresca provides injury update on Chelsea’s defensive duo

Chelsea slumped to a disappointing 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace in their opening encounter of the 2025-26 Premier League season.

Despite a wealth of attacking talent at their disposal, the Blues were unable to break down a stubborn Palace defence and had to eventually settle for a single point on Sunday.

But unlike his attack, Enzo Maresca had significantly fewer options to choose from in defence, especially at centre-back.

While Levi Colwill suffered an ACL injury that will keep him out until 2026, Wesley Fofana is also recovering from an injury.

Additionally, Tosin Adarabioyo has also picked up a knock, forcing Maresca to go with Trevoh Chalobah and Chelsea academy graduate Josh Acheampong as his centre-back partnership for the game against Palace.

Now, the Chelsea manager has revealed whether Adarabioyo or Fofana could return to the starting eleven for the trip to West Ham on Friday.

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Enzo Maresca issues injury update on Tosin Adarabioyo and Wesley Fofana

At first, Maresca shared a concerning update on Adarabioyo’s fitness after the Palace game. “Tosin had a physical problem. We don’t know for how long,” he told the Chelsea website.

This suggests that Adarabioyo will also miss the West Ham fixture on Friday, with a return to the line-up against Fulham the following weekend more likely.

On the contrary, Fofana could make his first appearance of the 2025/26 season against the Hammers, having made the substitutes bench on Sunday.

Maresca continued: “Wes was on the bench, but was just on the bench to be with us, and the plan was for him not to get any minutes. Now hopefully, for the next one, we can use Wes for some minutes.”

Meanwhile, Josh Acheampong is currently Chelsea’s fifth-choice centre-back behind Levi Colwill, Trevoh Chalobah, Tosin Adarabioyo and Wesley Fofana.

However, the youngster did start for Chelsea on Sunday, given the centre-back crisis at the Blues and gave a good account of himself.

On the back of a solid performance, one would expect Acheampong to start once again against the Hammers, but it remains to be seen who accompanies him in the heart of Chelsea’s defence.

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