Just when we thought things were getting back to normal at Chelsea with Mateo Kovacic returning to full training, the Covid bombshell hits.
The Croatian international will now be in isolation after today testing positive for Covid-19 after returning from injury for just one day. Talk about bad luck for him, us, and for Thomas Tuchel.
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Not only that, the last game Jorginho played through back pain because of a lack of options in midfield, so he will be missing for at least another match. N’Golo Kante is also injured. That’s three key midfielders missing for Tuchel and Chelsea at least for Zenit on Wednesday night.
So as things stand, it will be Saul Niguez and Ruben Loftus-Cheek starting in the double pivot on Wednesday night, and we all remember how that went last time.
I have no idea why Ross Barkley is being totally overlooked in there, he would be a decent option for a temporary solution, as would Mason Mount. He played in that position for England on a couple of occasions and he could certainly play in the 6 for a short term solution. Both of those are better options than throwing Saul back into the fire again.
Then, if you want to look even more ‘extreme’ but yet are not extreme at all for me, you go to either Reece James or Andreas Christensen, who have BOTH played a lot in the defensive midfielder position. James for Wigan when on loan, and Christensen quite often for Denmark. Two good and viable options.
I’d like to see Tuchel look at one of these four against Zenit, it’s a great opportunity to try it out having already qualified for the next round of the Champions League. Yes we need a win to top the group, but I’d be far more confident with one of those four options next to Loftus-Cheek over Saul right now.
I’d really like to see it, but I doubt we will, I believe Tuchel will go with Saul, and of course I’ll be fully behind him as I am with any Chelsea player who puts on the shirt. Go show us all what you can do, finally!!
