Team News: Tuchel issues Chelsea injury ahead of PL clash against Brentford

Thomas Tuchel gives latest injury update on Chelsea duo Callum Hudson-Odoi and Reece James ahead of Brentford clash

Thomas Tuchel has provided the latest injury update on Chelsea duo Callum Hudson-Odoi and Reece James ahead of the clash against Brentford. The match will take place at Stamford Bridge tomorrow, and the hosts will look to start with a victory to regain the momentum they lost due to the international break.

Hudson-Odoi has not played since the start of March after featuring against Luton Town in the FA Cup. The winger did return to training earlier this week, but it seems that he will be out on the sidelines for yet another game. Ben Chilwell has already been ruled out for the rest of the season. Speaking in the pre-match presser (h/t Chelsea official website), Tuchel said:

“Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ben Chilwell will miss the game tomorrow. Callum still feels his Achilles a little bit and has some lower back problems.”

Reece James, on the other hand, had picked up a hamstring issue following his return from a long term injury. He has returned to training this week and will be available for selection tomorrow. Tuchel has confirmed that the wing-back has attained full fitness for the league fixture.

‘Reece James is ready to go and is in the squad”.

Mixed feelings

The German boss gave an update on Thiago Silva and Christian Pulisic, as both of them had to travel long distances following their international duty for Brazil and USA, respectively. He added that while Silva will be available, the same cannot be said for Pulisic, who is suffering from jet lag and time difference.

“Thiago is a bit different than Christian. Thiago did not play the third match with Brazil, and he came back one day earlier. He did not have the same jetlag as Christian. He was here yesterday and trained today so is available for tomorrow.”

Hudson-Odoi’s absence and Pulisic’s potential unavailability do pose some concerns for our attack. After all, we do not have a natural left-winger if both of them would be out on the sidelines tomorrow. Perhaps, Timo Werner or Kai Havertz could put in a shift depending on who the centre-forward would be against the Bees.

“For Christian, we need to decide. He did not train today. We decided to give him another recovery session today, so he did not train. He is here but feels very tired due to the time difference. He played 85 minutes one and a half days ago. We will figure out if it makes sense for him to play tomorrow.”

James’ return would be a massive boost, as wingbacks play a crucial role in the 48-year-old boss’ system. While Cesar Azpilicueta can deputise in that role, the skipper does not provide nearly the same impact in the attacking department.

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It is also good to know that Silva has enjoyed the required time to get over the jet lag. Despite his age, he still forms a key cog of our backline in the sweeper role. Tuchel having more options to choose from just after the break is always helpful as all the players may not achieve match sharpness from the get-go due to their national team duties in this break.

Thomas Frank’s side have troubled us in the past and gave us stern challenges in the first half of this campaign. However, they have fallen off since then and facing them could not have come at a perfect time than now. Then again, form does not matter just after the break, so the players would need to be wary of any setback.