Chelsea could receive a timely fitness boost ahead of a demanding finish to the season after reports claim Reece James is on course to return by the start of May, according to The Guardian. The right-back and club captain has battled a sequence of problems: a minor hip issue earlier in the season and recurring hamstring trouble that flared in mid-March.<\/p>\n
Initial reports suggested the 26-year-old might be sidelined for as long as two months, with even his availability at the World Cup briefly called into question. Now the expectation that he will be fit in May gives Chelsea more options for the decisive run of fixtures that will determine their Champions League hopes.<\/p>\n
Chelsea still have four matches to navigate before the end of April, including home visits from Manchester City and Manchester United. The Blues travel to Brighton in the league before meeting Leeds United in the FA Cup semifinal at Wembley Stadium on April 25.<\/p>\n
The title of the top-four race remains tightly contested with Liverpool holding a one-point advantage over Chelsea. The defending top-flight champions sit one point ahead of the Blues even though Liam Rosenior\u2019s side limped into the international break in woeful form. Liverpool also have the added complication of Champions League action, although if Paris Saint-Germain replicate their performances against Chelsea that won\u2019t last long.<\/p>\n
One of James\u2019s first matches back could be a pivotal trip to Anfield on May 9. Chelsea have won only one of their previous seven visits to Anfield: a 1\u20130 victory behind closed doors during the 2020\u201321 COVID-19-impacted campaign. The last time Chelsea won a Premier League game at Anfield in front of a crowd, James had not yet left school, let alone begun his professional career.<\/p>\n
A London derby with Tottenham Hotspur and the prospect of an FA Cup final add further significance to James\u2019s potential return. Chelsea must still overcome Leeds United without him in the semifinal; Leeds took four points off Chelsea in the Premier League this season across two matches, both of which James missed.<\/p>\n
Schedule
\nDate \u2014 Opponent \u2014 Competition
\nMay 4 \u2014 Nottingham Forest (H) \u2014 Premier League
\nMay 9 \u2014 Liverpool (A) \u2014 Premier League
\nMay 16* \u2014 Man City\/Southampton \u2014 FA Cup
\nMay 17 \u2014 Tottenham (H) \u2014 Premier League
\nMay 24 \u2014 Sunderland (A)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Reece James could return by May, offering Chelsea a decisive boost for late-season fixtures in May.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11049,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[190,969],"tags":[1006,1047],"class_list":["post-11050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea","category-premier-league","tag-captaincy","tag-champions-league"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}