Team News: Chelsea manager gives N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic injury update
According to Football.London, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has suggested when N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic can return from their respective injuries as he spoke after his team’s 3-2 win against Leeds United this weekend.
Chelsea have been on the backfoot for the previous few weeks due to injuries to key midfielders. N’Golo Kanté and Mateo Kovačić. Both have been sidelined for several weeks now, and the consequences are clear.
The Blues have only managed to win 2 of their last five games. Furthermore, in their previous match, Jorginho wasn’t at his 100% as he played through back pain. The Italian came up with much-needed heroics after converting two kicks from the penalty spot. Amid the absence of 2 key midfielders, Thomas Tuchel was almost forced to start the 29-year-old Italian despite his injury. But it seems there is some good news now.
Thomas Tuchel has provided an optimistic update on the return date of N’Golo Kante. It is believed that Kante is set to make a comeback to the ground on Tuesday to join training sessions with other players.
Mateo Kovacic returned positive results for Covid-19 and has since self-isolated. Thomas Tuchel would have hugely benefited from his services. However, there are still some difficulties regarding the health of the Croatian.
The German manager suggested that even though Kovacic showed mild symptoms, The 27-year-old would have to wait for a couple of days to get the tests done and would only be able to return after a negative result.
“Kova had symptoms over the last few days. Not too bad is my information, but I don’t know the answer to when he is allowed to come back. We need to know what the doctor says and 10 days and some tests to be negative before he can come back.”
Without the two crucial midfielders, the former Borussia Dortmund manager started Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the middle of the pitch recently.
Saúl Ñíguez and Ross Barkley were tested earlier this season. However, both were visibly unable to replicate the levels Jorgi and Kante showed for the first few months of this campaign. The situation pushed Tuchel to play Reece James in the midfield against Zenit, with the Spaniard pushed out on the left flank.
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Thus, the return of Kante would provide a massive boost for the ex-Paris Saint-Germain manager. As Chelsea are still contending for every major title this season, they need to have quality depth in the squad to tackle the hectic schedule.
And more than that, we can expect our defence to look more stable too as a result of having our star midfielders back. We now have to play the waiting game before we can see our strongest XI back on the pitch together once again.