Chelsea will be missing two defenders who picked up their fifth yellow cards of the season in the draw against Nottingham Forest for the upcoming trip to Liverpool – and a third player could be in trouble after new footage emerged......See Full Story>>.....See Full Story>>
The Stamford Bridge side were in action this afternoon against Forest as Enzo Maresca’s side aimed to maintain their positive start to the campaign.
Chris Wood opened the scoring for the visitors in West London before Noni Madueke equalised before the hour mark.
James Ward-Prowse was sent off for Forest after he was shown his second yellow card of the encounter as full-time approached.
It proved to be a feisty encounter at Stamford Bridge with six Chelsea players booked and three Forest men, including Ward-Prowse.
There was also a melee during the game as Forest’s Nico Williams allegedly pushed Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella into Maresca.
Cucurella, Moises Caicedo, Cole Palmer, Pedro Neto, Levi Colwill and Wesley Fofana were the six Chelsea players to have been booked.
Two of these – Cucurella and Fofana – picked up their fifth yellow cards in the draw against Forest.
Despite it still being at a very early stage of the campaign, it means both defenders will be suspended for Chelsea’s next Premier League encounter.
And that game is after the international break, which will see Chelsea travel to Anfield to take on early Premier League leaders Liverpool.
Blues boss Maresca will be forced into at least two changes to his starting line-up for that encounter on October 20, and he could be forced into a third, depending on what action is taken following fresh footage which has emerged following the feisty draw against Forest.
New footage taken from the stands shows Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson appearing to slap Forest player Morato, who was a late substitute for former Blues youngster Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Both teams could receive fines for accumulating such a large number of yellow cards in the game, but Jackson could also face action after his melee with Morato and Chelsea might be impacted with a further fine for failing to control their players.
Should Jackson be missing for the clash at Anfield, Maresca would be likely to start Christopher Nkunku instead in the centre forward role.