• José Mourinho confirms both are unlikely to feature on Sunday • Chelsea manager praises performance of Ruben Loftus-Cheek

The Chelsea manager, José Mourinho, has confirmed that Pedro and Willian will miss Saturday’s Premier League fixture against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.

Pedro was substituted during Chelsea’s 3-1 defeat to Everton at the weekend and was left out of the squad for Wednesday night’s 4-0 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Champions League. The Brazil midfielder Willian scored the opening goal before being withdrawn midway through the first-half with a muscle injury and Mourinho believes it is unlikely either will feature against Arsenal.

“Willian is out for sure, I think Pedro is out for sure. I prefer problems when players are playing well than problems when players are playing badly,” Mourinho said.

Baba Rahman made his Chelsea debut at left-back after joining from Augsburg in the summer, but it was the homegrown midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek who made the biggest impression on his manager. “I think he [Loftus-Cheek] played very well, which is very good for us,” said Mourinho.

“I think he is in conditions to compete with the others for positions and minutes but he is having minutes. He played already in the Premier League this season, now in the Champions League. He’s potentially a very good player.

“You have to feed these young players and choose the right moment but the reality is that his evolution is important.”