Pochettino wildcard, Mudryk starts - Three ways Chelsea can avoid Cole Palmer FC tag vs Arsenal

Question marks surround Cole Palmer's place in the Chelsea team ahead of Tuesday evening's London derby clash against Arsenal. Involved for the Blues on Saturday in their FA Cup semi-final defeat against Man City, the Blues confirmed on Monday afternoon that the England international had been absent from training due to illness.

Not long after the update from the club, head coach Mauricio Pochettino, speaking in his pre-match press conference, provided the latest on his player but what he said hinted that Palmer may play no part at all. «Today, no,» he said when asked if the attacker can play at Arsenal. «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."

Potentially now having to do without their 23-goal man, Pochettino and Chelsea will have quite the call to make over the 21-year-old's replacement if he is to watch on from the stands at the Emirates Stadium. So who exactly could start in his place? football.london takes a look below.

Despite playing such a key role in Chelsea's previous game against Man City at the Etihad Stadium, Raheem Sterling had to contend with a place on the bench against his former side at Wembley last Saturday. The attacker was introduced four minutes after Bernardo Silva's 84th-minute strike but it was barely enough time for him to even get himself into the game.

With a potential place in the Chelsea XI opening up due to Palmer's illness, Sterling will be in contention to take his place in the side and that may result in Conor