Chelsea must again cope without Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner against Newcastle United (football highlights).
Among the football news today, in a huge injury setback, Chelsea will be without Lukaku, Werner, Kovacic until mid-November.
Neither Lukaku nor Werner have played for the Blues since their 4-0 Champions League triumph over Malmo on October 20. And that is due to their ankle and hamstring injuries respectively.
The pair were first absent for Chelsea’s matches against Norwich City and Southampton, which Chelsea won. (Though, against the Saints, they only won on penalties.)
Chelsea Will Be without Lukaku, Werner, and Kovacic
Now, Thomas Tuchel confirmed that Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner will not return to Chelsea until the November international break.
Tuchel will be without the attackers against Newcastle, as well as against Malmo and Burnley, before all club activity pauses.
This means, just ahead of Saturday’s match against Newcastle United, Tuchel has dealt Blues fan with a minor scare.
When the season begins, Lukaku and Werner will be looking forward to a potentially crucial stretch. Therein, Chelsea will face Leicester City, Juventus, and Manchester United in quick succession.
But it may have to be without some key players of the Blues.
“Timo and Romelu are still out because of their injuries,” Tuchel told a pre-match news conference.
“Christian Pulisic did join the last two training sessions, but it’s still too early, given the time that he missed.”
He added: “I’m not a friend of deadlines and putting pressure on expectations, but I can tell you that it’s realistic that both of them, Timo and Romelu, have a new target, and that target is after the international break. That is what we aim for and they aim for.
“With Christian Pulisic, we are looking at the Burnley match.”
Tuchel gave mostly optimistic news on the injury front, though, despite all this.
He later announced that Mateo Kovacic had suffered a hamstring injury in training. The latter would be out for at least a month.
“Everybody else is available,” Tuchel said. “Azpi [Cesar Azpilicueta] is back on the pitch, Ruben [Loftus-Cheek] is back on the pitch, N’G [N’Golo Kante] is back on the pitch. They are with the team tomorrow and ready to play.”
