Premier League legend Alan Shearer has praised Chelsea star Josh Acheampong for ‘stepping up’ during the club’s defensive injury crisis.
The Blues, who defeated Liverpool 2-1 on Saturday, are dealing with a lengthy injury list heading into the October international break.
It was confirmed on Monday that Reece James had pulled out of the England squad after he ‘sustained an injury’ in the win over Liverpool.
Benoit Badiashile, meanwhile, limped off in the second half against Liverpool – having only made his first appearance for 94 days when he started against Benfica in the Champions League last week.
A third Chelsea defender, Wesley Fofana, has missed the last two Premier League games due to concussion while Tosin Adarabioyo was also absent from the matches against Brighton and Liverpool over a calf problem.
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Levi Colwill is injured too with the Chelsea defender expected to miss the majority of the 2025-26 campaign.
With so many injuries, Acheampong was handed a start in Chelsea’s 2-1 victory over Liverpool on Saturday, and speaking about his performance on The Rest Is Football podcast, Shearer said: ‘He did well, didn’t he?
‘When you consider the injuries, particularly defensively that Chelsea had, for him to come in and step up like he did… I was impressed with him. He had a good game.’
Acheampong made just his second start of the season against Liverpool and was taken off in the 68th minute as a precaution.
‘It was a shame he went off in the end,’ Gary Lineker added. ‘But I mean, very assured, first time I’ve watched him in a big game and I thought, we like that.’
Micah Richards, meanwhile, joked that he was holding a ‘grudge’ against Acheampong after picking him in his Fantasy Premier League (FPL) team.
‘I was impressed [with Acheampong],’ Richards said. ‘But I put him in my fantasy and he didn’t play for a few games.
‘So I’m holding a grudge against him… but he’s back in the team now!’
Acheampong came through Chelsea’s academy and has played 18 games for the club to date.
The 19-year-old made his debut for the England U21s last month in a 2-0 win over Kazakhstan.
Acheampong attracted transfer interest from a number of top European clubs last year, including Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
But Chelsea successfully convinced their wonderkid to sign a new long-term deal at Stamford Bridge.
Acheampong is now under contract with the west London club until the summer of 2029.