Mateo Kovacic is out for the game vs Arsenal. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has revealed that Mateo Kovacic is ruled out for the match against Arsenal in the Premier League. The fixture will take place later today at Stamford Bridge, where both teams will look to get the better of their bitter rivals in the London derby.
The Blues have several injury concerns coming into this clash, with Kovacic being their major absentee. He had suffered an ankle ligament problem during Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace at Wembley. Tuchel has now confirmed that the midfielder will be out of contention while hoping he recovers within two weeks.
“Kova (Mateo Kovacic) is out for the game, a ligament injury. Hopefully, [he will] not be longer than two weeks out.”
Speaking in the pre-match presser (h/t Football.London), the German boss also expressed that Ben Chilwell and Callum Hudson-Odoi remain out injured for the match later today. Concerningly, he added that there are others who are doubts for this game.
“Callum Hudson-Odoi out for the game [against Arsenal] and Ben Chilwell is out for the game. There are some players in doubt – which we need to examine – but hopefully, the rest is okay.”
The 48-year-old manager also gave further details on the recovery process of Chilwell and Hudson-Odoi. He added that they would not rush things with the left wing-back, and the defender is expected to join team training only at the end of this term.
“No [for Ben Chilwell], I don’t think we will rush this. Ben will now be in the transition to join academy training and to have team training – but not on the physicality level like with us. Hopefully, he can join our training at the end of the season but no matches on that level. For Callum, it’s day by day, still not possible to join team training.”
The blow to Kovacic would be concerning since he has arguably been our best midfielder throughout this campaign. Fans would remain hopeful to get the Croatian back to full fitness at the earliest, especially when matches against West Ham United and Manchester United follow today’s fixture.
As for Chilwell and Hudson-Odoi, it is good to know that the recovery is going smoothly with both of them. We cannot risk losing them once again through relapse, so absolute care must be given during the rehab process. It remains to be seen if we can get the 21-year-old attacker back to contention before this summer or not.
Even with these setbacks, we should not accept anything less than three points tonight, looking at the performances of both teams coming into today’s game. The visitors are currently on a three-match losing streak, so we should not be the one to hand them an opportunity to get out of this rut.
While we have a firm grip over the third place in the league table, it is always good to solidify that by beating off the direct rivals. Not to mention, with the FA Cup final against Liverpool set to take place in May, we need to do our best against top teams to prepare ourselves for the high-profile clash.
The Blues emerged victorious the last time we played the Gunners in what looks like a game that took place ages back. Tuchel’s men came out 2-0 winners in August 2021- a game where Reece James and Romelu Lukaku got on the scoresheet at the Emirates.
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