Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel reveals imminent return of Covid-19-riddled duo and also reacts to drawing Spurs in the EFL semifinal
Speaking in his post-match press conference, as quoted by the club’s official website, Thomas Tuchel revealed that two Covid-19 riddled players could return on the weekend and that he is looking forward to Chelsea facing Tottenham Hotspur in the EFL Cup semi-final.
The Blues went into the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup with a depleted squad. Brentford had their best players on, yet the West London club managed to churn out a victory without really hitting top gear nor deploying the big guns. Although it did take a while to open the scoring as it was not until the 80th minute that Pontus Jansson turned a Reece James cross into an own goal.
Five minutes later, Jorginho doubled the lead from the penalty spot after Christian Pulisic was brought down by the Brentford keeper. The victory saw us seal a semi-final spot against Tottenham Hotspur, which is set to be played next month.
Tuchel reacted to the draw after the game and stated that he is ‘looking forward to it.’
‘It was clear it was going to be a tough draw because there are four strong teams. Tottenham is nice for our fans, a London derby but very difficult. We did everything to be in the semi-final. We deserve it, so we’re looking forward to it.’
The gaffer also provided a Covid-19 update on a couple of players, as he revealed that Romelu Lukaku, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ben Chilwell tested negative for Covid-19.
‘If I understand it right, we need a negative test first of all, and we had that for Romelu, Callum and Chilwell today. Ben will not be involved in the Aston Villa game, but the other two can be on the pitch tomorrow if they test negative.’
Massive news
The Blues had to field three debutants against Brentford on Wednesday night. Although each of them made some sort of impact, it was not the ideal situation for Thomas Tuchel and co. The German has competed with a strong side in every round of the competition, and he would have liked to do so in the quarter-final too.
But they got the job done and give some much-needed rest to some of his first-team stars, albeit Mason Mount, James, Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo Kante, Trevoh Chalobah, Jorginho, Marcos Alonso, Pulisic and Cesar Azpilicueta featured in the game. But most of them were cameos or had less than 45 minutes on the pitch.
There shall be some fatigue going into the game on Sunday against Aston Villa, but it would be a massive boost to bring on either Lukaku or Hudson-Odoi into the game. It has now become crucial to gain victories from hereon in because any more slip-ups and we would be competing for a top 4 spot.
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We have also drawn a tough side in Tottenham for the semi-final of the Carabao Cup, but we need to beat the best to be the best. Antonio Conte is among the elite managers in Europe and there is nothing more the Stamford Bridge faithful would love than to see their former manager end up on the losing side, especially in a London derby. Regardless, it is bound to be an entertaining two-legged tie next month.