Chelsea handed double fitness boost after Carlo Ancelotti's Brazil decision | OneFootball

Brazil head coach Carlo Ancelotti has omitted two Chelsea players from his October international break squad amid fitness concerns.

After Tuesday's Champions League win over Benfica, Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca confirmed that Andrey Santos suffered an injury that forced him to miss the game, with the midfielder expected to be out for a couple of weeks.

As a result, Santos is unsurprisingly out of contention for Brazil's two friendly fixtures against South Korea and Japan as well.

It is not only Santos, however. Joao Pedro is also missing from Ancelotti's squad.

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Joao Pedro also had a small fitness problem earlier this week, although after assessing it, Chelsea deemed that he was fit enough to play against Benfica, albeit as a substitute.

Regardless, Maresca is likely happy that his first-choice number nine will get to rest instead of travelling to Asia for international friendlies.

The only Chelsea player included in Brazil's squad this time is Estevao.

The 18-year-old has seen an increase in his workload at Chelsea amid Cole Palmer's injury absence, but he still played less than 180 minutes in the last week, so some more minutes with Brazil wouldn't hurt.

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Before the break, Chelsea will face Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on Saturday in a Premier League bout.

Following the disappointing defeat to Brighton last week, the Blues have dropped down to eighth place, trailing seven points behind Liverpool.

As mentioned, Santos is expected to be out due to injuries, alongside several others, including Tosin Adarabioyo, Wesley Fofana, Levi Colwill, Liam Delap, and Cole Palmer.

Trevoh Chalobah, who was shown a red card against Brighton, will also serve his one-match suspension in this game.