Chelsea will be without Cole Palmer for their London derby against Arsenal at the Emirates on Tuesday night. 

The Premier League's joint-top scorer faced a race against time to be fit for the fixture, with his manager Mauricio Pochettino revealing on Monday that he was recovering from an illness. 

The Blues, who come into the game just three points off a top six spot, have made four changes to the side that suffered a 1-0 defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday. 

Axel Disasi, Benoit Badiashile and Alfie Gilchrist join Mykhailo Mudryk, in for Palmer, in the starting XI. 

Disasi claimed that the team were 'ready to fight' and he urged his team-mates to perform without their star man. 

Cole Palmer will set out Chelsea trip to the Emirates on Tuesday night due to an illness

'We are ready to fight tonight and I hope that we play a great game.' He told TNT Sports. 'Everyone likes to play big games. Everyone likes to play like this and we know that when we play the big games we play well but we have to keep these quality. Today we are focused on Arsenal.

'Cole did a great job since the beginning of the season. It will be difficult to pay without him but I trust in the quality of the team. We have a lot of quality ad I hope that the player who plays today will show his quality.'

Palmer has been Chelsea's standout performer this term and currently sits tied at the top of the league's goalscoring rankings on 20 goals with former team-mate Erling Haaland. The 21-year-old has also registered nine assists in his 28 outings.

The Blues could further derail Arsenal's title hopes with a result on Tuesday night. Mikel Arteta's side have the chance to extend their lead at the top of the table to three points ahead of their rival's fixtures on Wednesday and Thursday.