Earlier this week, Chilwell underwent surgery on a knee injury and is expected to sit out the rest of the season as he works on his rehabilitation.
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Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has provided injury updates on two of his first-choice full-backs. He stated that it is likely left-back Ben Chilwell will miss the remainder of the season. Tuchel also informed that right-back Reece James is a major doubt for Sunday’s pulsating clash with Liverpool. Earlier this week, Chilwell underwent surgery on a knee injury and is expected to sit out the rest of the season as he works on his rehabilitation, which Tuchel confirmed at his pre-match press conference ahead of the visit of Jurgen Klopp’s men in the Premier League. On the other hand, right-back James was forced off against Brighton with a hamstring injury. The German coach is still awaiting the scan results before determining the length of the defender’s absence.
“Chilly of course has had his surgery and he has our best wishes and all of our energy to come back healthy and as soon as possible,” Tuchel stated at his pre-match media briefing. “Unfortunately it seems like the season is over for him.”
“With Reecey it’s a hamstring injury, a muscle injury, and as always with muscle injures, the examination [results] comes a little bit later. You cannot rush these things. The images are better if you wait a little bit. So the images will come back to us later today I guess and only then will we know more about his status. That’s the situation on the wing-backs at this moment.”
In the midweek, Danny Welbeck scored a stoppage-time equaliser as Brighton secured a 1-1 draw against Chelsea in the Premier League fixture at Stamford Bridge. The home side put their nose in front through Romelu Lukaku before Brighton unleashed a barrage of pressure.
Just when Chelsea were on the brink of victory, Welbeck headed home to stun the home crowd and earn a much needed point for Graham Potter’s side. Hence, the result is a major setback for the Blues, who are now eight points adrift of the leaders Manchester City.
For that match, Thomas Tuchel’s side was boosted by the return of Lukaku, who was making his first Premier League start since October. However, Tuchel had issues in the defence as both of his left-backs were absent. Marcos Alonso was rested while Ben Chilwell was out injured. Therefore, Reece James was deployed at left-wing-back, with Christian Pulisic filling in on the right.
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