Thomas Tuchel has said that Chelsea star N’Golo Kante can “scare” Everton tonight in their Premier League fixture.
Chelsea host Merseyside club Everton on Thursday evening in the league, with both teams under pressure to gain points for their own reasons.
First of all, Tuchel’s Blues are sat third in the division trying to keep themselves in the title conversation. They need a victory today to close the gap to just two points to leaders Manchester City.
Meanwhile, 14th-placed Everton are struggling for form under their boss Rafael Benitez and are sliding down the table. The Toffees defence has been shaky all season and they have several injury concerns right now.
Tuchel has already confirmed ahead of the Everton match that he’s welcoming Kante back from injury this week to the bench at Stamford Bridge. In addition, the German manager has said that his sheer presence among the substitutes will be enough to “scare” the opponents.
“He is there to scare the Everton bench every time he stands up and I call his name out,” Tuchel said.
“He is Superman and when he is on the pitch he gives you that feeling, maybe the stadium. He reassures everybody that we have extra force, extra gears, and that’s why he is so important.”
Chelsea have extra safety with Kante
Of course, Tuchel’s doing the right thing by reintroducing Kante to the bench against Everton, even if there is a temptation to put him straight back into the XI.
There is no longer any secret to the kind of industrious work the Frenchman does in midfield, but that doesn’t make it any easier for opponents to deal with him.
It must feel like playing against an extra man when Kante’s on form. For Everton, they’d surely hate the sight of the midfielder coming on for the final 20 minutes tonight to inject some serious running power and quality.
His return couldn’t come any sooner because of the shortage of midfield options, though.
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