Palmer, Gusto, Nkunku - Chelsea injury news and return dates for Aston Villa after Arsenal loss

Chelsea crumbled without two of their better performers in recent weeks as Mauricio Pochettino's side were hammered 5-0 by Arsenal on Tuesday night. The Blues conceded four times in quick succession in the second-half, falling to their biggest defeat of the season.

Working without Cole Palmer and Malo Gusto due to injury and illness, Pochettino opted to go with several surprise changes including starting Mykhailo Mudryk as well as replacing both centre-backs from the weekend's close FA Cup semi-final. Alfie Gilchrist got the nod at right-back as well in a true baptism of fire for the 20-year-old.

The changes were to no avail, though, as Arsenal ran riot in north London. More worryingly for Pochettino, things don't get any easier either now.

Chelsea travel to Aston Villa on Saturday before then hosting Tottenham the week after. Here, football.london has the latest injury news ahead of the upcoming fixtures.

Palmer missed the game at Arsenal having not trained on Monday. He completed 90 minutes against Manchester City on Saturday but came down with an illness.

Injury: Illness.

What Pochettino has said: «Today [training], no. We need to assess him tomorrow morning. But today, no, I don't believe he can be involved, but we need to assess him tomorrow and then we can decide.

»Even if he will be good tomorrow, maybe he is not in a condition to play. I hope he can recover from this situation as soon as possible and be involved again with the team."

Possible return date: Aston Villa (A) — Saturday, April 27.

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Gusto has endured some injury problems this season