Chelsea vs Roma: The missing players ahead of Stamford Bridge showdown

Yesterday Chelsea fans will have been buoyed by Antonio Conte’s pre-match press conference ahead of the Champions League visit of Roma after the Italian confirmed that Alvaro Morata was in contention to start.

When the Spaniard was forced off in Chelsea’s defeat to Manchester City with a hamstring injury it was feared he would miss out for a number of weeks but his recovery has been a speedy one.

The Blues certainly missed his threat in attack as they suffered a shock loss at the hands of bottom club Crystal Palace at the weekend, but they will still be without first team regulars.

N’Golo Kante, who is the club’s highest rated player in the Premier League (7.43), and Victor Moses will both miss out having also suffered hamstring injuries, but Roma aren’t at full health either.

Key centre-back Kostas Monalos was injured in defeat to Napoli last time out and is not in the squad for the visitors, along with with full-backs Emerson and Rick Karsdorp and summer signing Patrik Schick.

Kevin Strootman should be fit enough to feature in the middle of the park having missed out at the weekend, but Roma are far from full strength and still adapting to new manager Eusebio Di Francesco’s methods.

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