Kalidou Koulibaly was absent from Chelsea’s open training session today ahead of tomorrow’s Champions League match with RB Salzburg.
The defender also missed Saturday’s draw against Manchester United due to a knee injury.
This of course puts doubts over his involvement tomorrow, where Chelsea can secure their place in the knockout stages of the competition.
The defender was a key miss for the Blues at the weekend, after forcing his way into Graham Potter’s starting side after not being chosen at the start of his reign.
This saw the former Brighton manager elect to start both Marc Cucurella and Ben Chilwell in the back five.
Koulibaly misses training
This choice certainly didn’t have the desired effect, with United dominating proceedings for the opening half an hour for sure.
Potter decided to make an unprecedented tactical first half substitute, replacing the Spaniard with Mateo Kovacic to change up the system.
This had the desired effect and the Blues got on top, however Koulibaly being absent again will mean the manager will have to think up a better solution for the next game.
The Blues can secure their place in the knockout stages of the Champions League with a win tomorrow. The achievement should not go down without praise, especially after finding themselves on one point from the first two group games.
After losing Wesley Fofana to injury a few weeks ago, another defensive loss is certainly not good news for the club, who still have plenty of big games to come before the World Cup.
Potter will be able to shine more light on Koulibaly’s issue in his press conference tonight.