Chelsea boosted as Tottenham Hotspur have injury concerns ahead of Carabao Cup semi-finals clash
According to Football.London, Tottenham Hotspur have a few injury concerns in their squad as they prepare to face Chelsea in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-finals later today. It would be the first of the three games that both teams would face against each other in the month, which spices up the encounter even further.
Tottenham will miss three key players in their squad as they try to keep up the momentum they have built under Antonio Conte. Even if the last two performances have been underwhelming, they have had enough time to recover and gear up for the semi-final clash.
Ryan Sessegnon will miss the match, having picked up a muscle injury against Liverpool last month. Steven Bergwijn suffered a setback with an issue in his calf and will be sidelined for the game later today. Cristian Romero is another absentee for the match after he had endured a hamstring issue for Argentina in the November Qualifiers.
Fortunate boost?
While in an ideal scenario, it would not have mattered if our opponents had their full squad available or not. We would have wanted them at their full strength as dealing with such challenges would help us to get moving forward. But looking at our current scenario, we would gladly accept any help to see us through this phase in time.
We have constantly been hacked by injury concerns which have kept several key players on the stands and some have been out for a pretty long period. Covid has also impacted us, further adding to the issues that we have been dealing with over the past few months.
We have our own injury issues to deal with, as players like Andreas Christensen, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Timo Werner, Trevoh Chalobah, Ben Chilwell and Reece James are either set to miss the match or are doubts for the game. That puts into the picture what we have been dealing with, so it would not be demeaning if we yearn for some favours in our way.
The first leg is set to take place at Stamford Bridge, and we have to use the home advantage to the fullest and get a comfortable lead for the reverse fixture. We have leaked goals in recent times, which is a contrast to the rock-solid defence from early in the season.
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We have to improve on that aspect, considering how Spurs have had a resurgence under Conte and how their attacking and creativity issues have improved to an extent. Thomas Tuchel would need to be wary of it and plan accordingly, as we challenge for attaining more titles after our Champions League glory last term.
Despite their injury issues, we cannot expect Spurs to take this lightly. This is perhaps their best chance for winning a trophy and they are arguably in a better position than us when it comes to player availability.