Having only just returned from a hamstring injury suffered in December, Lavia has missed the Blues’s last two Premier League games with a fresh problem. Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Friday, Maresca confirmed that the Belgian remains out, along with long-term absentees Benoit Badiashile and Wesley Fofana.

The Blues head into the game in sixth place in the Premier League, though they are just one point behind fourth-place Manchester City and boast a better goal differential than Pep