Chelsea will be looking to record a fourth successive victory in all
competitions when they welcome London rivals Arsenal to
Stamford Bridge on Wednesday evening in what looks like being a
mouthwatering Premier League encounter.
After seeing off Spanish giants Real Madrid in the second-leg of
their UEFA Champions League semi-final last week, the Blues, who
were beaten 3-1 by Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Boxing Day
earlier this season, came from behind to beat Manchester City at
the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening, winning 2-1.
A goal down at half time courtesy of Raheem Sterling’s tap-in,
Chelsea scored twice in the second half through Hakim Ziyech and
Marcos Alonso to seal another excellent victory under head coach
Thomas Tuchel.
Victory over City moved Chelsea up to third in the Premier League
table, meaning they are closing in on securing a top-four berth with
just three fixtures left to play.
But as well as having their three remaining Premier League fixtures
to fulfil, Chelsea also have the small matter of having both the FA
Cup final and Champions League final to contest, meaning Tuchel
will need almost everyone within his squad available to him for
selection.
With that said, here is a round-up of all the very latest on the
Chelsea injury front ahead of Wednesday’s visit of Mikel Arteta’s
Gunners.
Andreas Christensen
Danish centre-back Christensen hobbled off at the Etihad Stadium
in the closing stages of the first half clutching the back of his
hamstring.
The centre-back, who has been superb since Tuchel arrived at the
club towards the end of January, was replaced by Kurt Zouma, who
slotted straight into the backline and helped the Blues record an
excellent away victory.
Although it was a major blow to see the defender limp out of the
contest, Tuchel is hopeful that he will be sidelined for a matter of
days, not weeks.
“I hope it’s not too bad,” Tuchel told Chelsea TV after the game.
“It’s more or less the same [injury] that he suffered some weeks
ago around Porto games, I think, where we had to replace him.
“It was a 50/50 decision today [Saturday] whether we wanted to
put him on the pitch or not. I hope we did not make a mistake.
Because he’s so crucial for us in the last weeks — so, so strong.
“I hope we can escape with some days [of absence] and not
weeks. But I’m not sure yet, I have no confirmation yet.”
Mateo Kovacic
Chelsea arrived in Manchester on Saturday afternoon with the first-
team squad in pretty reasonable shape on the injury front, with only
Croatian star Kovacic currently sidelined through injury.
The central-midfielder, who has also been nothing short of superb
since Tuchel walked through the door, has been forced to miss the
Blues’ last eight matches in all competitions with a hamstring
injury.
However, there is optimism within the Chelsea camp that he could
make a return against the Gunners.
Prior to the trip to City, Tuchel admitted that the Blues “hope” to
have him back available for the clash with Arteta’s side, whilst also
hoping that he will feature against Leicester City in the FA Cup final
this coming weekend.
“Kovacic is out but we hope to bring him back for Arsenal and then
hopefully for Wembley,” Tuchel said on Friday.
“It will be tight for Arsenal, but for tomorrow he is out. Everyone
else is ready.”
Elsewhere, after ringing the changes against City on Saturday,
Tuchel is almost certain to welcome the likes of Thiago Silva, Ben
Chilwell, Kai Havertz and Mason Mount back into the fold.
Of the four aforementioned names, Havertz was the only one to
make the matchday squad on Saturday,
with Silva, Chilwell and
Mount all being given rests after their exploits against Madrid.
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