Thomas Tuchel rules out three Chelsea stars and names three others as injury doubts for Watford trip
Speaking in his pre-match press conference (h/t football.london), Thomas Tuchel ruled out Chelsea trio Ben Chilwell, Mateo Kovacic, and N’Golo Kante for the Watford trip before naming three other stars as potential injury doubts.
The Blues are set to face the Hornets on Wednesday night at Vicarage Road. The agenda would be to bounce back after a dim performance against a lacklustre Man United side. We missed out on three crucial points but are thankfully still top of the table.
Going into the game, Tuchel confirmed that Mateo Kovacic, Ben Chilwell, and N’Golo Kante are sure to miss the game. However, the German boss also revealed that Timo Werner, Reece James, and Jorginho might not feature.
The 48-year-old revealed that he can be sure about their fitness issues through more time and examinations.
“For sure, out is Chilly, Kovacic and N’Golo. We have some doubts about players, more time and examinations for Reece James, Jorgi and Timo. They all trained today, but there will be some last-minute decisions.
“It is on the players to be strong in the games but to take recovery very seriously. We have to be very good in recovery and sleeping, taking the right food and supplements to help us recover…We are not scared to rotate, we just the whole squad.”
Not what we needed right now
The injury troubles are just ramping up as the games go by. Kovacic, Chilwell, and Kante were missed in the draw against Man United. Add Jorginho, Werner, and James to it, and we might be in deep trouble.
For one thing, we would need to field an inexperienced midfield line. Saul Niguez has been decent in the cup games but is perhaps not the ideal fit for a trip to Watford considering he has failed to impress in the Premier League. The men in yellow slammed Man United 4-1 not so long ago. They have the intensity to take the game to the opposition in their backyard, and defeating the league leaders might also interest them.
Our attacking options might not be a problem, given that Romelu Lukaku also came on for the final 10 minutes on the weekend. The absence of James shall be felt, given his contributions in recent games.
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Cesar Azpilicueta and Callum Hudson-Odoi are viable options in the full-back area. Christian Pulisic also pulled off a cameo in that role against Man United. Tuchel admittedly is not scared to rotate, but the unavailability of six main stars can hurt the best of teams in Europe, and the German boss would be hoping his side can pull a victory out of the bag on Wednesday.