A Good Break

There was a lot of good news for the Chelsea contingent during this international break with landmarks and achievements galore. Kendry Paez, the 16-year-old phenom on our books, grabbed his first goal for the Ecuador senior team with a gorgeous finish. For some icing on that cake, Moises Caicedo assisted both the goals in that 2-1 win for Ecuador. Enzo Fernandez grabbed an assist for Lionel Messi’s goal against Peru, helping them sit top of World Cup Qualifying in South America. Both return unscathed from national team duty.

Mykhailo Mudryk continued his resurgence with a bright performance against North Macedonia, before grabbing his debut goal for the Ukrainian national team with a thunderbolt from outside the box against Malta. Noni Madueke bagged 3 goals in two U21 qualifying games against Serbia (a brace) and Ukraine. Cole Palmer went off with a dead leg after 52 minutes in that first game, and returned to the club after manager Lee Carsley decided there was no point risking aggravation. Lesley Ugochukwu started both games for France U21, playing the full 90 in a win vs Bosnia and Herzegovina and playing for an hour in a 9-0 thrashing of Cyprus. There was also a France debut as a substitute for Malo Gusto; a massive achievement considering how stocked their national team is in every position.

Axel Disasi and Nico Jackson both withdrew from their respective national teams. Disasi was nursing a quadricep injury, while Jackson underwent surgery on a problematic wrist injury sustained in the cup win vs Brighton. Levi Colwill made his debut for England in a friendly win vs Australia, interestingly, at LB. Conor Gallagher played that game too but neither featured in the Euro qualifier against Italy. Ian Maatsen traveled with the Dutch squad but was also an unused sub for both Euro qualifiers. Armando Broja trained with Albania for two days, but did not feature after consultation between the national team’s and Chelsea’s doctors collectively decided against playing him after a knock sustained in the win against Burnley.

The only mood dampeners were injury set-backs for two vital players. Reece James reportedly suffered an injury in training 10 days ago and is now a doubt for the game against Arsenal, which he was earlier touch-and-go for. Carney Chukwuemeka, after making the bench against Burnley after a seven-week absence, is also suffering from knee pain and could be set for some more time out.

With that out of the way, the Blues return to action on the weekend with a trip to tough trip to Arsenal. Our upcoming fixture list is arguably the make-or-break stretch of the season as we go up against Arsenal, Brentford, City, Spurs, Newcastle, United and Brighton in the space of a-month-and-a-half. Burnley was the first time in 546 days that we managed to score 4 or more in a game. The last time we beat Arsenal was more than two years ago; Romelu Lukaku was making his second debut and would score the first in a 0-2 win. Arsenal are 2nd and possess the joint-best defence in the league. A win wouldn’t just be a statement, it would be an exclamation point.