Cesc Fabregas is a major doubt for Chelsea’s clash against his former club Arsenal on Saturday.
The 31-year-old is currently suffering from a knee injury and missed Chelsea’s 3-0 victory over Huddersfield Town on Saturday.
Chelsea’s players took part in a light training session on Monday but Fabregas was not part of the group.
And the Spanish midfielder is not expected to recover enough match fitness to play a part in Chelsea’s derby at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Maurizio Sarri has a wealth of options in central midfield for the match against Unai Emery’s side and could give Mateo Kovacic his Premier League debut.
The Croatia international, who joined from Real Madrid on loan last week, did not feature against Huddersfield but is in contention for a place in Sarri’s midfield against Arsenal.
Against Huddersfield, Sarri opted for a three-man midfield of Jorginho, N’Golo Kante and Ross Barkley, who was replaced by Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the second half.
Arsenal, meanwhile, have their own injury concerns at left-back after Ainsley Maitland-Niles was forced off with an injury in the first half of the 2-0 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday.
Emery is already without Sead Kolasinac, while Nacho Monreal only returned to training last week after recovering from a knee problem.