Poor Reece James! The Chelsea captain is now back in the Blues treatment room after suffering a hamstring injury in the loss to Everton this past Sunday. He is now expected to be on the sidelines for the next three months. The English full back just cannot catch a break, as this season has just been extremely injury-riddled for him.
Two more players came off injured at Goodison Park- goalkeeper Robert Sanchez and left back Marc Cucurella. However, fortunate for Chelsea, their situations are much less serious.
Sheffield United at Chelsea FC FYIs
Kick: Sat. Dec. 16, 3pm, Stamford Bridge, London, UK
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Google Result Probability: Chelsea win 78% Draw 14% Sheffield United 8%
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PL Standing: Sheffield United 20th, 8 pts Chelsea 12th, 19 pts
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Sanchez suffered a knock on his knee in the loss to Manchester United last week, and he will need be to assessed before kickoff. Before giving way to Djorde Petrovic on Sunday, Sanchez had played every single competitive minute for Chelsea this season.
Cucurella is also a doubt for Saturday, after having twisted his ankle on Merseyside. There is better news though, relating to Noni Madueke, Malo Gusto and Christopher Nkunku. The trio is pushing to be match fit in time for kickoff.
Additionally, Romeo Lavia stands an outside chance of being passed fit to make the matchday squad here.
As many as 12 first-team players could end up being ruled out of this game.
Bottom line, we’re still waiting for the “very good things are coming” that manager Mauricio Pochettino had talked about earlier on this season.
It is rather difficult for very good things to come when your side is this injury-riddled.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now, while writing for the International Baseball Writers Association of America. You can follow the website on Twitter.