Ben Chilwell is not the best player in Chelsea’s first XI, but he’s among the most important.
According to a report in the Telegraph today, the left-back’s scan has returned positive results on the rolled ankle he was given 5 minutes into the game against West Ham last night.
At the very least he will miss this weekend’s game against Arsenal, and their article speculates he could be out until the 3rd of January at least.
That means a sudden and unexpected run of games for Emerson Palmieri at left back. In his now quite substantial time at the club, the Italian has never impressed for more than a game or two at a time, and has looked closer to leaving than making a name for himself for about two years now.
His 85 minutes last night didn’t give much hope of a revival either. The team struggled to create chances from open play, and while he can’t be criticised too much for what was perfectly solid performance after coming on cold, Emerson didn’t get to the byline or really threaten at all.
Now the left back be thrown into the deep end with matches against Arsenal, Manchester City and Aston Villa over the next 13 days.
Chilwell’s presence down the left had been a real outlet in terms of goals and assists for the side this season so far, and his replacement will do little to make up for that.
The whole issue is compounded by Reece James’ absence on the right, which dramatically reduces our threat on that side too. Cesar Azpilicueta can provide solid cover defensively, but he doesn’t have James’ attacking output. It also means that the Spaniard is tied to that side for the time being, rather than having the possibility to play ahead of Emerson at left back, as happened several times last season when Frank Lampard was frustrated both by the former Roma man and Marcos Alonso.
With those two out as fixtures reach their most intense, we need every other member of the team to step up if we’re to avoid a slump. The chances are that both our attacking and defensive phases of play will be serious affected by losing our two first choice full backs, and the added strain on the legs of the whole squad could be severe.
The odds given here have us as favourites for the Arsenal match, perhaps unsurprisingly given their recent form, but we would expect a much tighter game now we’ll be significantly weaker down one flank.