Chelsea duo Kai Havertz and Mateo Kovacic return from injury ahead of a busy December
According to football.london, Kai Havertz and Mateo Kovacic have returned from injury ahead of a tough fixture schedule for Chelsea.
The Blues have had a slight blip in form in the past week. One draw, one defeat, and a narrow victory saw our squad depth tested to its fullest. By the end of the weekend, Thomas Tuchel had Havertz, Kovacic, N’Golo Kante, Trevoh Chalobah, and Ben Chilwell were all out with injury. Marcos Alonso was also suffering from some pain.
However, the German boss has received a major injury boost ahead of the Champions League tie against Zenit Saint Petersburg. His fellow countryman, Havertz, has returned after limping off the pitch at half-time against West Ham United.
The 22-year-old stands a chance to be in the squad that travels to Russia. Kovacic has also apparently returned to training, according to The Times (Subscription Required). The 27-year-old has missed the last eight games due to a hamstring injury but is in line to face Leeds United at the weekend.
Massive boost
It was clear from the last three games that our starting midfielders are incredibly important to the way we set up. Kovacic was vital to our great start to the season, and his absence surely made a difference.
Ruben Loftus has had to feature in three consecutive games, and the Englishman looked tired by the time he was facing West Ham on Saturday. Jorginho also looked fatigued while Saul Niguez has not instilled a lot of confidence in the gaffer, courtesy of which the Croat’s return is timely.
Havertz, on the other hand, was vital to how we started the game against West Ham. The German played through the centre and was crucial in linking up the play. In fact, we were in the lead until he limped off the pitch. Romelu Lukaku could not produce the same intensity, indicating the importance of the 22-year-old to our system.
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Tuchel will be delighted with the return of his star men. The Blues shall now be looking to top their UCL group before trying to get ahead of Man City and Liverpool in the league on the weekend.