Once again, Chelsea will have to take the pitch on Sunday against Tottenham without England international midfielder Frank Lampard.

While there was a chance Lampard would return after being sidelined for three months following hernia surgery and groin surgery, boss Carlo Ancelotti has declared him still is not ready for action.

“He is not fit again,” explained Ancelotti. “He is out.

“I can say this with a smile because he trained well but we think it will be a very tough game against Spurs.

“We didn’t have a chance to test him in a game. We have to arrange a game for him, maybe on Thursday, after that he can be available.

“He trained well, he doesn’t have a problem to train, but this is a tough game. So he will play a friendly and be ready for the Man Utd game.”

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Arsenal’s Kieran Gibbs is set to miss three weeks of action with an ankle injury which he sustained in Wednesday’s Champions League win over Partizan Belgrade.

On Thursday, Gibbs underwent a series of scans that gave results landing him on the sideline and keeping him out of action for Monday’s visit to Manchester United.

“We have lost Kieran Gibbs from Wednesday night but he should be the only one. We think today that he will be out for three weeks,” Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger told the club’s official website.

“I am very disappointed [about it]. I hope it will not put in his mind that he is an injured player. It was just an accident and you cannot do anything about it. Time will help him get over that and it is not major damage in his ankle.

“We should have [Gael] back [for Monday]. He was in today. He was very weak still but we hope he will progress well.

It is still unclear if Gunners captain Cesc Fabregas will be back from a hamstring injury for Monday’s title match.

“We could have Cesc Fabregas [back],” added Wenger. “But there is a big uncertainty if he can be in the squad or not. That will be decided very late.”

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Wolves team captain Karl Henry will miss the next two months of action due to knee surgery.

Mick McCarthy has confirmed that the 28 year-old will be benched after sustaining a knock during their match against Blackpool on Saturday.

“Karl is out for two months with medial knee ligament damage,” he said. “He’s had a scan and I think there’s a slight tear.

“It’s a huge blow, especially with Dave Edwards out with a thigh strain. Karl’s been great and he’s been an ever-present unless he’s been injured – and the injuries he’s had have been serious, with his knee and damaged spleen. It’s a big loss.”

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Things are just went from bad to worse for Liverpool fans.  Team captain Steven Gerrard is set to miss the next four weeks of play due to a ‘significant’ hamstring injury which he sustained during an international match.

With six minutes left in England’s 2-1 loss to France on Wednesday, Gerrard limped off the pitch in pain.

With both Rio Ferdinand and Gareth Barry out due to injury, England boss Fabio Capello chose to leave Gerrard on the field to help their side come away with something beside a loss.

Needless to say, the choice to leave the Liverpool captain on the field backfired rather badly.

“Steven injured his hamstring last night. He’s just been in for an early assessment here and it certainly looks like a significant hamstring injury,” Dr Peter Brukner, head of sports medicine and sports science, told the club’s official website.

“He’s just heading off for a scan as we speak and we should have the results of that tonight.

“He’s going to be out for a little while, I’m afraid. I’d imagine it could be three to four weeks.”

The Reds’ head of fitness and conditioning Darren Burgess slammed the English side on Twitter, however, Dr Bruckner was a bit more conciliatory.

“If you put your hand up to play for your country, you’ve got to accept how long they want you to play for,” he added.

“There were obviously circumstances last night which came together to result in Steven playing for a bit longer than we’d hoped, which is disappointing but there’s nothing we can do about that now.

“We’ll move on and work as hard as we can to get him back playing for Liverpool as soon as possible.”

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Bad news, Blues fans.  Your beloved captain John Terry may be sidelined for months with a nerve injury in his leg.

The blow sustained by Terry had him benched for Chelsea’s 3-0 home loss to Sunderland on Sunday, which only further highlighted his absence on the pitch.

Terry has battled his injury since the end of last season.  Unfortunately, the pain has gotten too much to bare and a lengthy recovery is now in order.

“It is at a point where I cannot carry on with it,” he told the Sun. “I used to be able to make it through games because the adrenalin gets you going and you blank the pain out. But now there is no decision to make. After games I’m in agony and not sleeping at all.”

The Chelsea captain will miss out on England’s international friendly against France at Wembley on Wednesday night.

“I’m at my wit’s end,” he added. “I know I won’t play against Birmingham on Saturday but beyond that there are no clues. It could be weeks, it could be months.”

Not only is Terry out, Chelsea teammate Frank Lampard is set to miss at least another two weeks with an abductor muscle injury which he sustained during a training last week.

The Blues will also be without Ghana international midfielder Michael Essien, after being issued a straight red card during their match against Fulham last Wednesday.

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After passing out during halftime of Saturday’s Serie A game against Brescia, Inter Milan’s Wesley Sneijder has been diagnosed with anemia.

Sneijder has admitted he’s exhausted.  Can you blame him?  Not really.

The 26 year-old playmaker has led Inter to both a Champions League and Serie A league title last season, guided his national team to the World Cup final, and then got married.

“I started to shake and felt pain in my entire body,” Sneijder told Dutch daily De Telegraaf. “In the changing room I got sick and passed out briefly.

“My heart and blood pressure were checked immediately. Later I traveled to the Netherlands for a second opinion. The conclusion was that I have anemia and my whole body is exhausted.”

So far this season, Sneijder has struggled a bit, and his illness can now be added to the long list of Inter’s medical problems.

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Blood tests by Chelsea have confirmed that their star striker, who missed games at Aston Villa and Spartak Moscow last month due to illness, has now been diagnosed with malaria.

Following their match at Anfield, Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti revealed that Drogba did not start due to fever-like symptoms.  Now, after further tests, the Blues are aware that the illness is in fact malaria.

“We found out last night when blood tests showed he had malaria,” said Ancelotti. “I don’t know where he got it from.”

Ancelotti swears that Drogba is now fully recovered and is set to start against Fulham on Wednesday.

“He had a problem,” added Ancelotti. “He has this virus and, obviously, he lost power and training.

“He lost his condition. He’s had treatment and now he’s OK. He’ll come back immediately in the best condition.

“He suffered, obviously, because he wasn’t 100% but now, after treatment, he’ll be better. He had malaria. He had the tests in the last day, and they showed this kind of virus. Now he’s good.

“I don’t know where he got it from. I gave him a few days off and he went on holiday for a few days, and then he has malaria. But it’s over now. He’s OK.”

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After sustaining medial ligament damage during a match against Newcastle in the Carling Cup, Arsenal defender Kieran Gibbs will miss a few weeks of action.

Gunners manager Arsene Wenger admits that it is a blow to lose Gibbs, but that the club is hoping it isn’t all that bad.

“We lost Kieran Gibbs last night,” Wenger told Arsenal TV Online. “That is the bad news.

“It is a medial knee ligament strain. It needs to be checked on the scan tomorrow but it will be a few weeks.”

Gibbs is set to miss the West Ham match at the Emirates, and possible games against Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Champions League as well as a showdown with Newcastle, Wolves, and Everton.

Let’s look on the bright side of things, Gunners fans… Robin van Persie (ankle) and Aaron Ramsey (broken leg) are both likely to return to full training by the end of next week.

Wenger added: “They should be back in the group at the end of next week.

“Of course we should not set the same recovery time to Ramsey as Van Persie.

“Aaron will need a longer period to be completely match fit for the first team. But van Persie is not far away now.”

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Barcelona playmaker Xavi is now admitting that he has been battling an ankle injury following his return on Saturday.

Xavi also missed out on his recent Euro 2012 qualifier due to pain in his Achilles tendons, but was, however, able to make a return for Barca’s win over Valencia.

“I’m well but they still bother me. I hope I get over it soon,” Xavi stated on Barca TV.

“I started well (against Valencia) but as the minutes passed I could feel the strain on my tendons.

“It’s a battle I have but thanks to the doctors and physios who look after me I’m sure I’ll get over it soon.”

Barca manager Pep Guardiola added: “He isn’t ready to play every three days.”

FC Barcelona is now set to host Copenhagen in UEFA Champions League play this Wednesday.

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Bad news, Blues fans.  Yossi Benayoun is out for six months with a torn calf muscle.

Benayoun sustained the blow during the Carling Cup loss to Newcastle last month.  Following the match, he joined the Israel national team and later suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon during a training session.  It wasn’t until after further tests that doctors discovered just how wrecked Benayoun is right now.

A statement on the club’s official website read: “Yossi Benayoun will undergo surgery on his Achilles on Monday. The Israeli international returned to the club from international duty last week, and will now be out of action for approximately six months.”

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