Chelsea will hope to have several key players back in time for their return to Premier League action against Leeds United next week.

There are fewer than seven days left before Chelsea host Leeds United at Stamford Bridge on November 21. As many as 12 first-team Blues are currently on international duty, while some are still recovering from injuries.

As it stands there are eight names on Chelsea’s injury list.

At least two of them, Reece James and Maxence Lacroix, will certainly not be available against Leeds. James recently underwent knee surgery, while Lacroix sustained a hamstring injury during the Carabao Cup defeat to Liverpool in late October. Neither is expected to be back for at least several weeks, perhaps months.

The other six, meanwhile, may return sooner rather than later.

The most likely to be available against Leeds on the list is Emiliano Martinez. Xabi Alonso decided against deploying the veteran goalkeeper in the defeat to Sunderland last week, but Martinez had already trained with the team days prior.

The goalkeeper is currently on international duty with Argentina, along with Valentin Barco and Aaron Anselmino. He stayed on the bench in Argentina’s 2-1 defeat to Uruguay on Friday, but there is a good chance he will start against Costa Rica on Tuesday.

Anselmino is another one who will likely be in contention to play against Leeds. The centre-back has yet to feature for the Blues this season after struggling with multiple injuries, but Alonso clarified that Anselmino had trained for over a week before flying to his home country for his first senior international call-up.

Unfortunately, Anselmino did not even make the bench against Uruguay, but it might have to do with fierce competition in the national team rather than a fitness issue.

Josh Acheampong is also expected to be back in time to face Leeds. The versatile defender withdrew from the England Under-21s due to an injury that forced him out of the trip to Sunderland. However, Alonso previously confirmed that Acheampong was only dealing with a minor injury.

The remaining three on the injury list are Joao Pedro (thigh), Jorrel Hato (back), and Jamie Gittens (ankle). There is very little information about their recovery progress at the moment.

Joao Pedro recently posted a photo of himself in a gym with some encouraging words, but his availability remains in doubt at least until he is back on the training pitch.

Hato was absent in the last three games with a back injury, while Gittens has been out since the last international break, having missed six straight games.

Another player who raised some concerns about his fitness despite not being on the injury list is Moises Caicedo. The star midfielder missed a few Chelsea training sessions last week due to “discomfort” after the Manchester United game, but still started against Sunderland.

Upon his arrival at Ecuador’s training camp, Caicedo admitted that he was tired and was still dealing with minor fitness problems. On a more positive note, he played almost the full game in Ecuador’s 2-0 win over Costa Rica and even got on the scoresheet with a penalty goal.