Kante is expected to be out until November, when Chelsea face Man Utd at the start of the month (Picture: Getty)

Chelsea fear midfielder N’Golo Kante will miss all six of their matches in October after picking up a hamstring injury while on international duty with France.

The former Leicester City star was forced off in the 34th minute of Les Bleus’ victory over Bulgaria on Saturday, clutching his thigh, and has now been assessed by Chelsea’s medical team.

And according to The Telegraph, they are predicting that he will miss as many as three weeks, ruling him out of a number of important matches.

Kante had to be withdrawn in the first half of France’s World Cup qualifier with Bulgaria (Getty)

He will definitely miss the Premier League clash against Crystal Palace on Saturday, which is followed by the first of two back-to-back Champions League games against Roma.

The Italian giants are Chelsea’s closest rivals in Group C, having picked up four points from their opening two matches, and have been in excellent form in Serie A, winning five of their first six matches.

The six games N'Golo Kante is likely to miss

Crystal Palace v Chelsea (PREM) – Saturday October 14

Chelsea v Roma (UCL) – Wednesday October 18

Chelsea v Watford (PREM) – Saturday October 21

Chelsea v Everton (EFL) – Wednesday October 25

Bournemouth v Chelsea (PREM) – Saturday October 28

Roma v Chelsea (UCL) – Tuesday October 31

Also a doubt for:

Chelsea v Manchester United (PREM) – November 5

Chelsea also have a League Cup tie to contend with this month as they start a run of seven games in just 23 days, when the next international break takes place at the start of November.

Right at the end of Kante’s rehabilitation timetable, on Bonfire Night, comes a home match against Manchester United on November 5, the final match before the players head back on international duty again.

If Kante does not recover in time for that game, he will at least have another two weeks to get himself back to 100% fitness before the domestic campaign resumes again.

Kante has performed excellently again for Chelsea this term, but joins Alvaro Morata on the sidelines (Getty)

But, with Danny Drinkwater still not fit, Antonio Conte will be desperate to get Kante on the pitch for the visit of United.

Having already dropped points when Manchester City visited Stamford Bridge in their last league outing, Chelsea simply cannot afford to fall further behind the two teams at the top of the table.

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