Mateo Kovacic joins Chelsea injury list ahead of Newcastle clash with Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner still absent
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Updated 29/10/2021 at 15:15 GMT
Thomas Tuchel is having to navigate his way through a tricky period with injuries as he looks to hold on to the top of the table, and the Blues boss announced on Friday that Mateo Kovacic also faces a spell on the sidelines. Jorginho topped the scoring charts for Chelsea last season and, with Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner also out with injury, another unexpected name could do the same.
Tuchel: 'Our position at the moment means nothing'
Mateo Kovacic has joined Chelsea´s injury list ahead of Saturday's match against Newcastle, manager Thomas Tuchel has confirmed.
The Blues currently sit top of the Premier League table having enjoyed a fine start to the season, but will have to hold on to first place without a number of first-team players having already lost Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner to injury.
Tuchel shared the bad news on Friday that Kovacic will join the strikers on the sidelines with a hamstring injury, and will be out until after the international break.
"We had some very sad news yesterday because (Kovacic) injured himself in the very last minute of training," Tuchel said. "It's a hamstring injury and he will be out for some weeks. Hopefully after the international break he can come back here."
Tuchel also confirmed that summer signing Lukaku and Werner will remain on the sidelines, having both missed the victory over Norwich last weekend, leaving the club depleted at the front of the park.
And while that didn't stop the Blues from battering the Canaries 7-0 last weekend, Tuchel joked he wants his strikers firing after Jorginho topped the scoring charts last season.
"Timo and Romelu are still out because of injury," Tuchel said. "Christian Pulisic joined training, the last two training sessions but it is too early given the time he missed.
"We hope it won't be that Jorginho will be our top scorer again at the end of the season, no offence because we like him a lot, but we want our attackers scoring."
Tuchel added that Lukaku and Werner are expected back following the international break, where Chelsea will be hoping to have a full strength squad to play with.
And while the Blues have been tipped as title challengers following the arrival of a world-class striker in Lukaku, Tuchel tempered expectations and insisted that Manchester City and Liverpool are still the teams to beat.
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'Our defence is good, but it won't win us the Premier League' - Tuchel
"I’ve said many times Liverpool and Manchester City set the standards during the last four or five years, a fantastic effort what they did with the titles," the German coach said.
The title race was between the two of them, so it’s on us to challenge them. It’s on everyone else to join the race and I’m pretty sure there are a lot of teams out there who are hungry for points. So no [title] prediction from me.
"We’re trying to close the gap; I have no problem in admitting there was a gap in the last years. They set a certain mentality with their managers together over the years and that’s what we try to close and this is what drives us."
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