Chelsea ‘to have simply 10 senior gamers’ vs Spurs – and play West Ham days later
Chelsea are set to have just 10 senior players fit ahead of their first of two games in four days.
The Blues welcome London rivals Tottenham to Stamford Bridge tonight (May 2) amid a severe injury crisis. As many as 14 of their first-team stars are currently crocked.
Levi Colwill, Wesley Fofana, Reece James, Romeo Lavia, Christopher Nkunku, Lesley Ugochukwu and Robert Sanchez have been long-term absentees, with Carney Chukwuemeka, Enzo Fernandez, Ben Chilwell, Raheem Sterling and Malo Gusto joining them on the sidelines in recent weeks.
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Thiago Silva suffered a late knock in the weekend’s 2-2 draw with Aston Villa, while Axel Disasi is also unavailable to face Spurs in the Premier League encounter.
“It’s not good news because we cannot recover any players in the last week,” Pochettino said in his pre-match press conferencer. “Only we need to add two more players, Thiago and Disasi. They will not be available for tomorrow.”
A combined value of roughly £526m in injured talent leaves only 10 available options that are regulars for Pochettino – Djordje Petrovic, Benoit Badiashile, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella, Moises Caicedo, Conor Gallagher, Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson, Noni Madueke and Mykhailo Mudryk.
Has a team had it as rough as Chelsea with injuries? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
It’ll be a quick turnaround for Chelsea as they look to pack in all the rearranged fixtures as a result of their progression to the League Cup final and FA Cup semi-final before the end of the season. They host West Ham on Sunday (May 5, 2pm).
Pochettino will be hoping to get through tonight unscathed and then potentially welcome back both Nkunku and Colwill to the fold. “Finally they are so close to being available,” he added.
“Maybe for Sunday against West Ham, we hope they will be ready. But still, we will wait before we decide if they can cope with the competition.”
