Crystal Palace and United States Men’s National Team central defender Chris Richards has suffered two ligament tears in his ankle, we learned on Thursday. They haven’t specified which ligaments they are, or what grade the tears are, but given his prospective return timeline, the situation is not too bad.
UEFA Europa Conference League Final FYIs
Crystal Palace vs Rayo Vallecano
Location: Red Bull Arena, Leipzig, Germany
Kickoff: Wednesday May 27, 8pm EST
“Chris will miss the AFC game, and it’s now 50-50 for him to play in the Final in Leipzig,” said Palace boss Oliver Glasner.
“He tore two ligaments in his ankle. I think it’s stable…He is in from sunrise until sunset, having treatments and everything we can do that reduces the swelling.”
Now we don’t have access to the medical records, so we can’t say for sure, but most likely the ligaments that are injured aren’t as critical to joint/foot stability. Or the ligament tears are not too severe.
Richards could actually feature in the Conference League Final on Wednesday night.
And he’s apparently not in danger of missing out on the World Cup with the United States Men’s National Team.
And that will be a home World Cup (so far the headlines around it have been dominated by exorbitant ticket pricing), with the USMNT opening up group play against Paraguay on June 12 at Sofi Stadium in Englewood, CA.
The Stars and Stripes are yet to look inspiring under manager Mauricio Pochettino, so they can’t afford bad news right now.
Crystal Palace Team News vs Rayo Vallecano
Moving on to the other injury concerns for Palace, Maxence Lacroix overcame the unspecified knock that he was dealing with to make the bench for yesterday’s 2-1 loss to Arsenal.
Lacroix did not feature, but he should see some playing time in midweek.
Meanwhile Chadi Riad was a doubt, due to thigh cramping, but he started and played the full game on Championship Sunday. Borna Sosa (unspecified) missed out, but that could have been somewhat precautionary.
We’ll see if the English sides can go three for three in the UEFA tournament finals this week.
Each of the three title games feature one English club, with Aston Villa claiming the Europa League glory over Freiburg this past Wednesday.
Arsenal will face Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday night.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor 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 currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, Ratings and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.