The latest on Aymeric Laporte, Kyle Walker, and Edouard Mendy ahead of Chelsea vs Manchester City (Premier League)

Pep Guardiola and Graham Potter have provided comprehensive updates on the fitness status’ of their respective squad, ahead of Chelsea against Manchester City.

The reigning Premier League champions travel to West London on Thursday night knowing that a win would narrow the gap between themselves and league leaders Arsenal to five points.

Mikel Arteta’s side failed to capitalise on the opportunity to further extend their lead at the top before Manchester City had even kicked another ball this week, as the impressive Newcastle secured a point at the Emirates Stadium in a 0-0 draw on Tuesday night.

That came after City were held to a 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium at the weekend by Everton, which was swiftly followed up by a dominant victory for the Gunners on the south coast against Brighton.

Ahead of another crunch clash in the Premier League this week, here is all the latest team news and injury updates from both the Chelsea and Manchester City camps.

Chelsea

Edouard Mendy will remain sidelined for Graham Potter’s side this week, after sustaining a shoulder injury with Senegal at the FIFA World Cup. As such, Kepa Arrizabalaga is expected to start in goal for Chelsea against Manchester City.

In more positive news for Chelsea fans, it was reported earlier this week that Ruben Loftus-Cheek returned to training having recovered from a thigh injury sustained in November.

However, Chelsea’s extensive injury list is likely to remain extensive for the visit of Pep Guardiola’s side, with the following names all expected to be ruled out for the match:

• N’Golo Kante
• Reece James
• Wesley Fofana
• Ben Chilwell
• Armando Broja

Manchester City

Pep Guardiola revealed during his pre-match press conference that Aymeric Laporte‘s availability for the trip to Stamford Bridge would be subject to a late fitness test.

The Spain international central defender has been suffering from a back problem that ruled him out of Manchester City’s matchday squad entirely against Everton on Saturday afternoon.

Ruben Dias will once again be absent on Thursday night, as the Portugal international continues to recover from a muscular injury sustained during his penultimate match at the FIFA World Cup, and further aggravated in the quarter-final defeat to Morocco.

Pep Guardiola also revealed during his press conference that Kyle Walker has only just returned to the level that the Manchester City boss was previously familiar with, following further issues with injury.

“Yesterday (Tuesday) he made the first good training session since coming back – he had niggles, some problems and he could not train,” Pep Guardiola said on Wednesday afternoon.

“Yesterday was the first time I saw the Kyle I know. He didn’t play for a long, long time with us. Of the last 34 games I think he played 11 so that’s a long time out.”