Chelsea will face Manchester City in the Premier League on Saturday and midfielder Mateo Kovacic has been ruled out for this game as well.
The midfielder has been on the sidelines for some time now and after initially recovering from his injury, the Croatian international suffered another setback, thereby delaying his return even further.
Some reports had suggested that Mateo Kovacic will be fit to face Manchester City this weekend but Thomas Tuchel has made it clear that the 27-year-old will not be available for selection.
‘In terms of the injury list, it does not change much,’ Tuchel said in his press conference.
‘We still have training to go later today where things could change but right now, everyone is ready apart from Kova.
‘Kova is unfortunately still out. We hope to bring him back for the game against Arsenal and then hopefully for Wembley [FA Cup final v Leicester].
‘It will be tight for the Arsenal game but for tomorrow, for sure, he is will be out. Everyone else is available for tomorrow’s match.’
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This could be a major headache for the Chelsea boss since the pairing of Kante and Jorginho has been playing some really tough games over the past few weeks and if Mateo Kovacic was fit then at least one of them could have been rested on Saturday.
But now that the Croatian is not ready, Kante and Jorginho will once again have to pair up in defensive midfield and against a team like Manchester City, anything less than 100% will not be good enough from these two players.
Tuchel does have the option to use Billy Gilmour but there’s no way the manager is going to risk naming the youngster in the starting line up against the champions-elect.
Mateo Kovacic could have provided a key rotation strategy this weekend but now his absence means Jorginho and Kante will have to do their best and not get winded by the end of the match.
