Sheffield United: Two key Chelsea players struggling with injury concerns ahead of Blades clash this weekend

The Blues have made a fairly underwhelming start to the 2019/20 campaign, following up on their 4-0 opening day hammering against Manchester United with a draw and a narrow win against Leicester City and Norwich respectively.

Ahead of Saturday's big match, Chelsea boss Frank Lampard confirmed that both N'Golo Kante and Pedro could be ruled out of the game due to injury, and told the club's official website: "Pedro picked up a hamstring injury (before the Norwich match) and we will assess the severity of it over the next couple of days.

"But I think it will be tough for him to be back for next week at first glance."

Lampard continued: "‘It’s a difficult one with N’Golo because he’s had four years of constant playing. We knew he had that injury from the Europa League final last season, which affected his pre-season, and then he picked up an ankle injury last week.

"He’s trying and we are trying to get him through it, but the game yesterday just came too quickly and he was in too much pain. But again he is one to assess and we want him back in the team because he’s an important player."

Chris Wilder was disappointed with his side's display in last weekend's 2-1 defeat to Leicester City, which saw Harvey Barnes’ screamer deny his side a point. Putting the result behind him, the Blades boss will look to rally his troops again, and seek to capitalise on the Blues' shaky defence with a gutsy performance against the 2016/17 Premier League champions.

United are likely to rest a number of key players for this evening's Carabao Cup clash against Blackburn Rovers, which could see the likes of Lys Mousset and Ravel Morrison given a run-out, as Wilder looks to reserve his squad’s energy for their upcoming clash in west London; a fixture which is likely to be their toughest contest so far this season