Chelsea handed treble injury boost ahead of Leeds United FA Cup clash but six ruled out

Thiago Silva has a good chance of being fit enough to represent Chelsea when the Blues welcome Leeds United in the FA Cup on Wednesday. That's according to Blues boss Mauricio Pochettino, who has revealed the Brazilian is in a race against time to be involved this weekend as the Londoners face Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley.

Silva missed Chelsea's most recent outing at Manchester City last weekend after picking up an issue in the win over Crystal Palace earlier this month. But his lay-off is not expected to be lengthy and even if he does miss the cup final, it seems he could be ready to take on Leeds at Stamford Bridge.

The same may well be said for Marc Cucurella, who has re-joined Chelsea training after missing the last two months of action with an ankle issue. Robert Sanchez has also been declared fit again and could appear between the sticks against the Whites next week.

"We need to assess a few players still to see if they can be involved on Sunday," Pochettino said when explaining his team news for the clash with Liverpool. "We will know tomorrow if we can recover some players from injury. Thiago has a chance, tomorrow we will see if he is ready to be involved in the game."

An injury update posted on Chelsea's official website this afternoon revealed that a total of six first-team players will be ruled out of this weekend's clash at Wembley. With Benoit Badiashile, Carney Chukwuemeka, Wesley Fofana, Reece James, Romeo Lavia and Lesley Ugochukwu all ruled out.

Most, if not all, of the above names are expected to miss the cup clash with Leeds, too, which comes just three days after what could be a draining and demanding cup final against the Reds. How Pochettino intends to approach the fifth round contest remains to be seen, but changes can be expected, it's fair to say.