Blow for Chelsea as defender suffers injury setback

Chelsea will be hoping to record just a second win of the Premier League season when they welcome Aston Villa to Stamford Bridge on Sunday. 

The Blues have endured a difficult start to the new season, winning just one of their five league games so far to leave them 13th in the table.

Mauricio Pochettino has been forced to deal with something of an injury crisis early on in his tenure at the club, with 12 senior players currently out injured.

The Villans, meanwhile, have won three of their five games so far and will undoubtedly provide a stern test for Chelsea.

Ahead of the game, it appears that Pochettino has been handed a huge blow.

As reported by Nathan Gissing via 90min, central defender Benoit Badiashile has suffered an injury setback on his return to training.

The Frenchman only joined Chelsea in January but impressed during the second half of last season and was set to play an important role for Pochettino’s side this term.

Badiashile has suffered a setback on his return to training

He is yet to feature, though, having picked up a hamstring injury during pre-season.

The 22-year-old made 135 appearances for French side Monaco before departing from Stamford Bridge eight months ago, for a fee of around £35 million.

The France international made 11 appearances for Chelsea last season, and scored his first goal for the club during a 3-1 win over Bournemouth in May.

He has since been joined by former Monaco teammate Axel Disasi, who signed for the Blues during the recent summer transfer window.

The report claims that Badiashile had returned to training last week after his injury but suffered a ”minor setback’ which has delayed his return to action.

When he does return, Badiashile will compete with Disasi, Thiago Silva, Trevoh Chalobah and Levi Colwill for a starting spot in Pochettino’s team.