Chelsea will enter Championship Sunday with a chance to clinch Europa League qualification for next season. As they prepare to host AFC Bournemouth this weekend, they have, of course, a few fitness concerns to deal with. For a host of different reasons, they will be without the services of Mykhailo Mudryk, Reece James, Robert Sanchez and Carney Chukwuemeka; among others.
Let’s get into all of it, ahead of the regular season finale.
Chelsea FC vs AFC Bournemouth FYIs
Championship Sun May 19, 4pm, Stamford Bridge, London, UK
Chelsea FC Preview Material:ย Team Newsย ย Starting XI Prediction
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
Google Result Probability: Chelsea 66%ย ย Draw 18%ย ย Bournemouth 16%
PL Form:ย ย Chelseaย ย WWWWDย ย Bournemouthย LLWWL
PL Standing: Chelseaย 6th, 60 ptsย ย Bournemouthย 11thย 48 pts
Blues Team Newsย
Let’s start with Mudryk, who collided with Tariq Lamptey and suffered a concussion from the collision in the win over Brighton yesterday. Mauricio Pochettino stated: “No, he is not OK, we are checking. He was a little bit dizzy but we used the concussion substitution and the rule is seven days, so he is not going to be available for the next game, but I hope it is nothing wrong.”
Elsewhere James returned to action, after having endured a very injury-riddled season, but got red-carded. So his sending off got his him suspended and thus ended his season.
Moving on to Chukwuemeka and Sanchez, two long-term injury absentees, well it appears they won’t be in contention for Sunday either. And thus, they join Enzo Fernandez, Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana as donezo for the entire term.
But at this point, it’s just one game anyway.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor ofย The Sports Bank.ย Heโs also theย author of โTransatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,โ andย โNo, I Canโt Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.โ
He currently contributes toย Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMGโs NFL Wire Networkย and theย Internet Baseball Writers Association of America.ย His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated,ย Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times.ย You can follow himย on Linked In and Twitter.
