Welcome to burnout watch on TalkChelsea, a special feature for this most intense of seasons where we look at the players who have played the most minutes this campaign and are the most at risk of burning themselves.
The last time we looked at this, it was Timo Werner leading the way, and nothing has changed there.
In fact he’s extended his lead – he’s started 16 games, playing 1405 minutes. That puts him at serious risk, given his explosive style of play and the position he plays in. We’ve just lost Callum Hudson-Odoi and Hakim Ziyech to hamstring problems, which unfortunately also means less chance of a break for Timo.
Second place goes to Kurt Zouma, with 15 starts and 1380 minutes played. As a central defender however, the demands are much less, and he should be OK to continue playing every week.
The other worrying names just behind him are Mason Mount and N’Golo Kante, who have 1252 and 1239 minutes respectively. They are all action midfield runners, and must be at breaking point by now.
Things don’t get any easier either. There are no soft games, just a solid Premier League run from until the 9th of January, when we finally play Morecambe in the FA Cup.
Until then, it’s going to be a twice weekly struggle for the manager as he works out how far he can push his starters.
