Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed vice-captain Ben Chilwell is a doubt for this weekend’s game against Burnley.
The defender played in both friendlies for England during the international break and, speaking at his pre-match press conference, Pochettino said the left-back picked up a knock:
“It is maybe a surprise for us but also bad luck as he got a dead leg in the last moment of the game against Belgium. Now we need to struggle and pay in our club. That’s more bad luck for us as we need to assess if he can be available.”
Considering all the other injury problems that Chelsea have, fans on X were very disappointed to hear of Chilwell’s latest setback:
Not again
— PhantomZ (@CFC_Phantom_) March 28, 2024
Almost all the players are injured what’s really happening
— Bob Manager (@OfficiaManager1) March 28, 2024
I speak for everyone when i say CHILWELL is now an injurry prone player. Played 2 games for England 🏴 and came back injureed
— Kaizen (@kaai_zen) March 28, 2024
They should just name us INJURY FC atp!
— Timmy Sax 🎷🇳🇬🇬🇧 (@timmy_sax) March 28, 2024
There’s a sniper at Cobham
— Lip🇺🇸 (@CFCLip_) March 28, 2024
What's going on
— Onah Collins (@OCollins32288) March 28, 2024
Fire everyone in that medical department
— Folusho ⚓ (@FlushyBuzzz) March 28, 2024
Cucurella is expected to start on Saturday
While Chilwell’s injury is very frustrating for both the club and the player, he was only likely to be on the bench against Burnley anyway.
Marc Cucurella performed well versus Leicester last time out in the FA Cup, getting on the scoresheet, so the Spaniard is set to keep his place.
Chelsea have 11 players on the sidelines
In addition to Chilwell, the likes of Robert Sanchez, Carney Chukwuemeka, Enzo Fernandez and Trevoh Chalobah have been added to the list of players who could be unavailable this weekend.
Fernandez is late back from international duty so he will need a fitness test, while Chalobah is only in light training after sustaining a knock.
Lesley Ugochukwu (hamstring), Romeo Lavia (thigh), Wesley Fofana (knee), Christopher Nkunku (hamstring), Levi Colwill (toe) and Reece James (hamstring) also remain out of contention.
