Chelsea Injury Update: Key Players Out Against Hull City
Chelsea will head into their Premier League meeting with Hull City still without four key players, as Xabi Alonso confirmed his injury list has not shortened in time for Saturday.
The news comes just days after Chelsea steadied themselves with a much-needed win over Leeds United in the Carabao Cup, a response to the bruising derby defeat to Arsenal last weekend. Alonso shuffled his pack heavily in midweek, but when the tie tightened, he still had to call on the heavy artillery. Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers came off the bench to drag the Blues back into the game and into the fourth round.
Now the focus swings back to the league, and to a squad still stretched.
Caicedo ruled out again
Chelsea will again be without Moises Caicedo in midfield. The club’s record signing remains sidelined and will not feature against Hull.
“Not yet,” Alonso said on Friday when asked if Caicedo would be ready for the weekend. “Let’s see for Brentford, but unluckily not at the moment to take risks with him. Not yet, we are not there yet.”
Caicedo picked up his injury before the season even started. He finally made his first appearance of the campaign in the wild 4-3 home win over Brighton & Hove Albion in late August, coming on in the second half. That return lasted only briefly; a setback forced him off again and sent him back to the treatment room.
Chelsea’s midfield has had to adapt without him, and that will continue at least until the Brentford fixture, which Alonso clearly has in mind as a more realistic target.
New signings still waiting
The wait for three summer signings goes on as well.
Alonso confirmed that Marco Palestra, Jordan Henderson and Emmanuel Emegha will also miss the Hull clash, meaning none of them will make their official Chelsea debut this weekend.
Asked directly if any of the trio could be involved, Alonso’s answer was blunt: “No.” Pressed on Henderson and Emegha in particular, he added: “Not tomorrow. We hope they can be (available) for Brentford, and we will see.”
Palestra, like Caicedo, suffered his injury just before the season kicked off. All three have been left watching from the sidelines while Chelsea grind through the early fixtures.
There are, at least, small signs of movement. Palestra has recently started individual training, a clear signal he is edging closer to full fitness and a return to competitive action. Henderson has rejoined team training after fracturing his left forearm during the 2026 World Cup, but medical staff have not yet cleared him to play.
Timing the return
The calendar gives Chelsea a decision to make. Hull is the first of only two games left before the September international break, with Brentford to come after. Then the schedule pauses, but not in the usual way.
This international window will stretch over three weeks, with nations playing four matches as two breaks are merged into one. Once that block is done, there will be no October break to ease the load.
Given that landscape, Chelsea’s caution makes sense. Pushing Caicedo, Palestra, Henderson or Emegha back a week early could easily backfire when a longer reset is just around the corner. The logical plan is to use this period to get them fully right and circle either Brentford or, more conservatively, the first game after the international break as the true restart.
If anyone does beat that timeline, Palestra and Henderson look the likeliest. One is already working on the grass alone, the other is in full sessions with his teammates. Both are inching towards the green light.
For now, though, Alonso goes into Hull with the same problem he has had since August: a squad good enough to win, but still missing some of the players signed to change everything.
