Tuchel rules out six Chelsea stars for the UCL clash, one of them being COVID-19 positive

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel names five injury concerns for Zenit clash and confirms Mateo Kovacic has tested positive for Covid-19

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, as quoted by football.london, Thomas Tuchel revealed that five Chelsea stars shall be out for the UEFA Champions League clash against Zenit St Petersburg due to injury. Meanwhile. Mateo Kovacic also misses out after testing positive for Covid-19 recently.

The Blues have been in a real jam in the past 10 days. The wins are drying up, and the injuries are increasing by the day. The loss to West Ham United was an eye-opener and saw them fall to third place in the Premier League standings. Tuchel would have been hoping to bounce back on Wednesday night against Zenit.

However, to his dismay, Ben Chilwell, N’Golo Kante, Trevoh Chalobah, and Jorginho are out with injury. Kovacic returned to training yesterday but tested positive for Covid-19 today, ruling him out of action for a few more days.

Tuchel provided the team news ahead of the Zenit clash and explained the situation about the Croat. 

“Ben Chilwell is out, N’Golo is out, Trevoh Chalobah is out, Mateo Kovacic is out, and Jorginho is out. Mateo was in training yesterday with a big smile, and was a pure pleasure to have him back. But he tested positive today for Covid and is isolating.”

Massive upset

It has become quite hard for the Blues to maintain a level of consistency in the past couple of weeks. The injuries are hampering our attacking form, and the discipline in the defensive phase has also been affected massively.

The midfield, in particular, is a huge problem now. With three of our starters out for the UCL clash, the choices are pretty slim. Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Saul are the more traditional options, while Ross Barkley and Mason Mount could also deputize in that position.

However, the game on Wednesday is not a real concern since the Blues have already qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League. The bigger concern would be the match against Leeds United on the weekend. 

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There are huge doubts on when Kovacic would return, and one would hope that he does not have any after-effects of the disease. We need our midfielders back as soon as possible as Tuchel looks to mount a Premier League title challenge against Man City and Liverpool.