Maurizio Sarri has confirmed that Cesc Fabregas will not feature against Arsenal (Picture: Getty)
Maurizio Sarri has confirmed that a 'very unusual' injury has ruled Cesc Fabregas out of Chelsea's clash with Arsenal.
Fabregas, 31, managed 60 minutes of Chelsea's Community Shield defeat to Manchester City but a knee problem kept the midfielder out of Saturday's victory over Huddersfield.
The Spaniard will have been desperate to play against his former side Arsenal at Stamford Bridge this weekend but he will have to wait for his return to first-team action.
Sarri did confirm that Mateo Kovacic was available but admitted that the Croatian would not be able to manage the full 90 minutes against Unai Emery's men.
'Fabregas is out for this match,' Sarri said ahead of his first Premier League home match as Chelsea manager.
Cesc Fabregas is suffering with an 'unusual' injury (Picture: Getty)
'I hope he will be able to be on the pitch in the next week, but I am not sure. It's nothing serious but he has a very unusual injury.
'It's nothing serious. I hope in the next week he'll join in training. He has a pain near the knee, not the knee, but near it.'
Arsenal will be desperate to bounce back after their defeat to Manchester City (Picture: Getty)
Sarri is confident that the Gunners can have a 'competitive' season under Arsene Wenger's successor Emery.
'I think that Emery is a very good coach. He won the Europa League three times and he won in France with PSG.
'I think Arsenal this season will be competitive.
'I think they'll be able to fight for a place in the Champions League.'
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