After a solid 1-0 win against West Bromwich Albion last weekend, Chelsea FC Manager Antonio Conte has a couple injury woes that need attention before the upcoming midweek game against Sunderland.
He will be looking to field a strong lineup, thus he will want to make sure that the injuries are sorted out by then. The three players being assessed are David Luiz, Pedro and John Terry.
Here’s the link to our Chelsea FC starting XI prediction
(Editor’s Note: the following Chelsea FC injury report is by Caleb Thompson)
David Luiz has been a major talking point in the news recently after he said that he played through an injury against West Brom. He exclaimed that he “wanted to play” and that he spoke to Conte about it. Luiz picked up an injury in the 3-1 win against Manchester City after Sergio Aguero lunged out at him with his boots, resulting in a red card and four game suspension.
Although he had previously been a doubt, it now looks like David Luiz will be ready to play against the Black Cats.
John Terry will be ready too, but with the form that Luiz is in, the summer transfer window re-acquisition is the preferred choice at this point in time, with this looking likely to change any time soon. Terry hasn’t played in over a month, and the Stadium of Light trip, versus the absolute bottom team in the entire table, could be his first action (albeit likely in a reserve role) in quite some time.
The defender has struggled to get game time after many injury woes that have damaged his form and ultimately cost him a place in the squad. With Terry out for so long, Luiz has shown what a top-class defender he is, and we’re maybe getting to the stage where his name is on the team sheet ahead of Terry’s when both are fit. Heading into this Stadium of Light trip, Chelsea is even further emboldened by the fact they swept the league’s monthly awards.
They are heavy favorites of course, as they should be, but maintaining the fine edge and warding off complacency is a concern.