7pm Chelsea news LIVE: Hudson-Odoi and James to face Grimsby, Mourinho warns Blues fans, Ake return ‘should be considered’ – The Sun

NEXT up for Frank Lampard's Chelsea this week is Grimsby in the Carabao Cup.

The Blues are set to blood some youngsters as they look to pick themselves up after their unlucky 2-1 defeat by Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.

Follow ALL of the latest Blues news, updates and gossip below…

  • CHELSEA could reportedly miss out on one of their top transfer targets next year.

    Napoli right-back Elseid Hysaj has been on the Blues' shortlist for the last 18 months, and boss Frank Lampard was keen on bringing him in.

    Manchester United, with their own desperate need of improving the squad, were also believed to be interested

    Now, according to The Express, his Italian club are poised to tie their star man down to a longer and much improved contract.

    Chelsea are currently appealing their transfer ban, and so hope to be allowed to move for additions in January.

    Otherwise they will have to wait for the Albanian until at least next summer.

    Chelsea currently have captain Cesar Azpilicueta occupying the right-back role, with rookie Reece James back-up after injury.

    But with Azpilicueta struggling at the start of the new Premier League season, Chelsea fans would be delighted if the club go out for a replacement.

  • EX-ENGLAND striker Paul Merson claims Chelsea's expectations have RISEN after their 2-1 defeat at Liverpool – and is predicting a top-four finish.

    Former Arsenal frontman Merson believes running the 100 per-cent Premier League leaders so close with such a young side will send confidence soaring for boss Frank Lampard and his players.

    Merson told Sky Sports:“There’s a lot of positives to come out of that game.

    ‘Look at Chelsea now and you think they could get in the top four.

    “They’ve given a lot of people heart, and it’ll give Frank heart.

    “‘With losing the game, it’s backfired in a way – the expectations have gone up rather than down.”

    But Merse still insists top two Liverpool and Manchester City are “head and shoulders” above all the other clubs

  • FORMER Chelsea defender Mario Melchiot has hailed Fikayo Tomori for the way he handled Mo Salah in Liverpool's 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

    Ex-Holland star Melchiot claims England Under-21 star Tomori – playing alongside Andreas Christensen in central defence – sometimes rendered Egypt star Salah anonymous.

    Melchiot told talkSPORT: “The way he played against Salah was really impressive.

    “There were moments where I didn’t even see Salah in the game

    “There were a couple of races where Salah had the ball and it was one-on-one situation and I thought this might be trouble.

    “But he just managed to get the ball off him, hold possession and then carry on making sure the team could attack again.

    “I really enjoyed watching Tomori play in a game of that size and doing so well.”

    Chelsea academy product Tomori, 21, is aiming for a breakthrough season under Frank Lampard's youth-oriented policies after loan spells with Brighton, Hull and Derby.

  • FRANK LAMPARD has confirmed Callum Hudson-Odoi and Reece James will be involved against Grimsby Town on Wednesday.

  • CHELSEA fans emerged from Sunday's 2-1 defeat to Liverpool with a rather positive attitude that one fan on Reddit has exemplified.

    The likes of Fikayo Tomori, N'Golo Kante and Tammy Abraham all came in for praise despite the Blues missing a number of chances to take a point.

    Far from feeling hard done by, as the first-half VAR controversy might suggest, supporters left Stamford Bridge feeling optimistic.

    The supporter has come up with seven positives to take from the defeat…

    • Tomori looked genuinely world class. Had Salah on toast all game.
    • Alonso. he gets a lot of hate on here, most of it warranted. Credit where credit is due he was bloody excellent today.
    • Azpilicueta. Again he's had a lot of hate these past few weeks but I thought he was great as well today.
    • Abraham. He probably should have done better with his chances today but he didn't hide at all, he kept asking questions and when we were 2-0 down he was screaming at everyone trying to motivate them. That's exactly what we need from our players.
    • Kante. That is all.
    • We went toe to toe with one of the best teams in world football and if luck had been on our side would have won.
    • For the first time in ages I actually had belief that we could come from behind and get something from a game

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