Following a hard-fought win over Brighton & Hove Albion in the EFL Cup, Chelsea posted impressive away victories against Fulham and Burnley in the Premier League. Pochettino had the benefit of several players returning from injuries during this period, and more were expected to be back in contention for the upcoming London derby against Arsenal.
Reece James and Carney Chukwuemeka were among the players pushing for a return to the squad to face Mikel Arteta's Arsenal, who currently hold the second position in the league standings. Pochettino had previously acknowledged their significant progress in recovering from hamstring and knee injuries during a press conference two weeks ago.
However, according to Nathan Gissing, a contributor to Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio's website, there have been setbacks in the recoveries of both James and Chukwuemeka since Pochettino's last update.
Gissing reported on X (formerly known as Twitter) that Reece James suffered another injury approximately ten days ago, subsequently forcing him to miss team training. While a scan revealed no significant damage, the England international has been training separately, making his availability for the match against Arsenal highly uncertain.
On the other hand, Carney Chukwuemeka had been sidelined since sustaining a knee injury during the second game of the season against West Ham United, initially ruling him out for six weeks. He had returned to training before the international break and was even named on the substitutes' bench for the Burnley fixture on October 7.
However, Chukwuemeka has reportedly experienced knee pain again since then, with indications suggesting it might be related to the injury he suffered at the London Stadium. Although Chelsea has not officially confirmed this, it appears unlikely that they will take any risks with Chukwuemeka's participation in Saturday's fixture.
