Thomas Tuchel confirms that Chelsea will be without 4 players against Leeds United.
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel have ruled out 4 players ahead of their Premier League clash against Leeds United.
While speaking ahead of the Premier League game Tuchel says Trev, Ben Chilwell, Kante and Kovacic will miss the clash.
“Trev is still out. Mateo Kovacic is out, N’Golo Kante out for tomorrow, and Ben Chilwell,” Tuchel confirmed.
Speaking on Jorginho, who missed out in midweek game the Blues manager had some good news regarding his availability.
“He did the last two training sessions and I think he will do what he did the last games, play through pain and do what he needs to be on the pitch,” Tuchel said.
In the absence of the Italian Reece James played in the midfield alongside Ross Barkley in the 3-3 draw with Zenit in the Champions League, where he has played before in his academy days and during his loan spell with Wigan Athletic.
However, Tuchel confirmed in his pre-match press conference that James will return to his usual position for their match against Leeds United.
“Reecey will start as a wing-back. We will find another consolation, he helped us out. We took the match to see some things because imagine if something happens tomorrow to Jorgi and we need to have a solution and we wanted to see it in real life.
“We took the match in Zenit to check out Saul in a different position and Reecey for impact in the middle of the pitch. But there is no need tomorrow to try these things. He [James] will start as a wing-back.”
Tuchel also provided an update on the injury of midfielder N’Golo Kante, who was substituted in last month’s win over Juventus at Stamford Bridge after picking up an injury.
“We are always worried when we have to live and play without N’Golo because he is exceptional and a unique player all over the world. This is my personal opinion. You cannot find a second N’Golo, so of course we’re worried.”
Speaking of the Frenchman, Tuchel believes he is close to a return to training. “Now is a slightly too long break again. We hope he comes back on Tuesday to team training.”
