Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that Chelsea’s Mateo Kovacic will be unavailable to play against Arsenal tomorrow night.
The Blues host rivals Arsenal on Wednesday evening at Stamford Bridge in a Premier League contest.
Tuchel’s side go into the match off the back of reaching the FA Cup final at the weekend, plus they’re on a three-game winning streak across all competitions.
In contrast, upcoming opponents Arsenal have actually lost four out of their last five league fixtures to slide down to sixth in the table.
It was a 2-0 win to Chelsea in the reverse fixture at the Emirates Stadium earlier in the season, so it’s no surprise to see the Blues start as favourites in the midweek clash.
There’s an injury blow to Chelsea ahead of the league contest, though.
Croatian midfielder Kovacic has today been officially ruled out.
“Kova is out for the game [against Arsenal], ligament injury. Hopefully not longer than two weeks,” Tuchel confirmed.
Big miss for Chelsea
For certain, losing Kovacic in upcoming matches is a blow to Tuchel’s side.
The brilliant £40million central midfielder was forced off injured during the first half of Sunday’s 2-0 win against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup semis, so it’s no surprise to hear he’s unavailable tomorrow.
However, one piece of encouraging news is that he may only miss a couple of weeks.
The Blues need to take care of business in the league to get over the line for a top-four finish, but the FA Cup final against Liverpool on 14 May is the game where all the top players need to be fit.
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