Chelsea journalists informed of real reason Jordan Henderson left out of Blues squad

Jordan Henderson has missed out on today’s squad, and Chelsea reporters at the stadium are telling us why.

Chelsea’s team to face Man U is out, and one notable change was the absence of Jordan Henderson from the midfield.

The summer arrival has made himself a regular alongside Moises Caicedo, and was doing well. He has been replaced by Romeo Lavia, and we assumed that it was just the Belgian being given a chance to start a Premier League game as Xabi Alonso looks to find a winning formula. At 36, Henderson is going to need a rest at some point.

However a closer inspection reveals that Henderson isn’t on the bench either.

There were fears of an injury, but BBC Sport’s Nizaar Kinsella has come in with the information on the midfielder’s status.

Henderson misses out; Lavia given chance to shine

“Jordan Henderson is out through illness,” he and ten other Chelsea journalists Tweeted almost simultaneously as they were given the update from someone at the club.

This is a big moment for Lavia to show what he can do alongside Caicedo, and a big test for the rest of the team to see how they cope without Henderson’s leadership in the middle of the pitch. We’re curious to see who steps up in his absence.

In other news…

The team news for today’s game has some interesting tweaks from the manager, and we’re very curious to see how it looks on the pitch.

Estevao starts today, and so it makes sense that Alonso was defending his treatment of the player in the press conference on Friday.