Chelsea will remain without Cole Palmer when they take on Barcelona in the Champions League tonight.
Palmer was poised to return to action this week after being given time to recover from a persistent groin injury that has so far derailed his 2025-26 season.
But a fractured toe, suffered after stubbing his toe off a door at home, halted those plans.
Palmer has been back in training working with a specially designed boot to provide more protection to the injured toe. But the Chelsea no10 will not be involved at Stamford Bridge tonight and remains a major doubt for the visit of Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday.
Chelsea rose to second in the league with a confident 2-0 victory over Burnley on Saturday.
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Reece James was replaced at half-time at Turf Moor but Enzo Maresca eased any fears over a fresh injury post-match, insisting the change at the break was a pre-planned one.
Moises Caicedo was handed a rest that afternoon after playing the full 90 minutes in two games for Ecuador during the international break.
The midfielder is now fresh and ready for two huge games this week. Wesley Fofana was another whose workload was managed at the weekend, rested after recently enjoying a run in the team again.
Enzo Fernandez and Pedro Neto were both passed fit on Saturday, scoring in each half, with Benoit Badiashile also returning from injury.
Estevao Willian was not involved on Saturday after a busy international break with Brazil but he is in contention to come back into the side this evening with Alejandro Garnacho also pushing for a start.
Romeo Lavia remains out after his recent setback with Dario Essugo not expected to return until January.
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Who do you think will win tonight?
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Chelsea
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Barcelona
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Draw
For Barcelona, Marcus Rashford is expected to feature tonight after recovering from flu that ruled him out of Sunday’s victory over Athletic Club.
The England international has been sensational in the Champions League this term with four goals so far, including a brace away to Newcastle United.
Raphinha meanwhile made his long-awaited return off the bench at the weekend after two months out injured but Pedri and Gavi remain unavailable.
Predicted Chelsea XI to face Barcelona
Tonight’s game could be the opportunity for Estevao to announce himself against one of Europe’s heavyweight names. With Lamine Yamal on the scene, it could be a battle of the teenage prodigies.
Predicted Barcelona XI to face Chelsea
While Raphinha is available again, Hansi Flick may hold off on starting the Brazilian particularly with Rashford available having also demonstrated the damage he can cause against English opposition this term.
Chelsea vs Barcelona TV channel and live stream
Chelsea vs Barcelona kicks off at 8pm tonight (Tuesday 25 November).
You can watch the match live on TNT Sports 1 with streaming also available through the Discovery+ app
Chelsea legend Dennis Wise recalls Barcelona memories
‘Against Barcelona in 1999-2000, we were going through with four minutes to go and Bernard Lambourde came on and he was distraught in the dressing room afterwards. We were four minutes away from going to the Semi Final and playing Manchester United.
‘We conceded a freekick and Dani got across Bernard and he slipped and maybe people thought that Emerson Thome should have gone on instead of Bernard because he is more one of those players who will stick to you like glue and hold you.
‘Bernard just fell asleep for a couple of seconds and that second cost us that opportunity. We didn’t play very well. We played well in the first leg but in the second leg, the system changed and personnel changed a little bit. When it changed again in the second leg we got back into the game and it looked like we were going to go through. We conceded the third goal and it made it 3-1 in the tie right at the end and that was a very frustrating night and we ended losing 5-1 but we should have been going through.’
Dennis Wise and Roberto Di Matteo were speaking around the launch of “Style in the Arena”, a new podcast presented by FIFA 1904. The first episode, Leading Chelsea F.C., is available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, YouTube, and FIFA1904.vfiles.com