Lukaku back for Chelsea as Tottenham check on Covid cases

The Blues’ Belgium striker was axed against Liverpool for disciplinary reasons.

Romelu Lukaku will return after disciplinary issues when Chelsea host Tottenham in Wednesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg.

Lukaku has apologised after revealing unhappiness at Chelsea in a recent interview, while Timo Werner could feature for the first time since December 11 after Covid-19.

Andreas Christensen remains a doubt with back trouble, while Trevoh Chalobah will face a late check after a recurrence of his previous thigh problem.

Tottenham are waiting for the results of PCR tests to see the extent of their latest coronavirus outbreak.

Antonio Conte said his side had a “couple of issues” regarding some unnamed players in the build-up to the game and will see how it develops before Wednesday night’s game.

Steven Bergwijn (calf), Ryan Sessegnon and Cristian Romero (both hamstring) are all out.

Chelsea provisional squad: Arrizabalaga, Bettinelli, Rudiger, Silva, Christensen, Chalobah, Sarr, Azpilicueta, Alonso, Kante, Kovacic, Jorginho, Saul, Barkley, Ziyech, Hudson-Odoi, Mount, Pulisic, Havertz, Lukaku.

Tottenham provisional squad: Lloris, Gollini, Emerson, Sanchez, Tanganga, Doherty, Davies, Dier, Rodon, Reguilon, Hojbjerg, Ndombele, Winks, Skipp, Alli, Moura, Gil, Lo Celso, Kane, Son, Scarlett.