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\n There are no new injury concerns for Enzo Maresca to contend with ahead of Chelsea’s trip to Leeds United, with the Blues head coach confirming Cole Palmer remains in contention to make his long-awaited return to action.
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We make the trip up north following a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. The Blues played almost an hour of that game with ten men after Moises Caicedo<\/a> was shown a red card, and we will be without the Ecuadorian at Elland Road due to suspension. <\/p>\n Palmer was named among the substitutes on Sunday, but the circumstances of the game meant the England international didn’t return to action for the first time since 20 September. <\/p>\n The 23-year-old is available to face Leeds, although Maresca has highlighted Palmer will need to be carefully managed back to full fitness. <\/p>\n \u2018He is available,’ Maresca said in his pre-match press conference. ‘In the last game, Cole was on the bench but with ten players, it was more complicated for Cole [to return] as he needs to come back to a [full] fitness condition. <\/p>\n ‘He is available and can start the game. The idea with him is to start giving him minutes until he is ready to play 90 minutes.’ <\/p>\n In addition to Caicedo, we will be without long-term absentee Levi Colwill<\/a> – who continues to recover from the ACL injury sustained in the summer. Midfielders Dario Essugo<\/a> and Romeo Lavia<\/a> will also be absent, as Maresca confirmed. <\/p>\n ‘Romeo is still trying to recover. Dario, he was okay and started some sessions with us. Now he needs to slow down a little bit so he will be out again, hopefully nothing important. The rest are all fine.\u2019 <\/p>\n