After being forced off with an ankle injury, Thomas Tuchel has stated that Mateo Kovacic will not be available for Chelsea’s FA Cup final encounter against Liverpool.
In the first half of Chelsea’s triumph over Leeds United after Mount opened up the scoresheet in the 4th minute, moments later Mateo Kovacic was forced off the field last night against Leeds.
The Blues midfielder has been a vital piece in Tuchel’s team this season, but he was unable to continue following a vicious tackle from Dan James, who used his studs to go in with his studs.
Daniel James was sent off for this 😳 pic.twitter.com/T9kfqzd2Xy
— B/R Football (@brfootball) May 11, 2022
The Leeds midfielder was given a red card, but Kovacic quickly followed him off the field after attempting to continue, much to the dismay of home fans. The Croatian’s ankle was bandaged in an ice pack in no time.
The Chelsea manager stated that Kovacic’s injury would need to be assessed, but the fact that a substitution was required indicated that a quick recovery would be tough. Because of the swelling and pain that his charge was experiencing.
The German manager stated that it was a piece of very unfortunate news on an ideal night for the Blues fans.
“He has a swollen ankle and is in a lot of pain. I’m not a doctor and we need to wait for the examinations but it’s very unlikely. It’s absolutely bad news on a perfect evening.”
Given their history, the 48-year-old coach said Kovacic could have started against Liverpool and was impressed with how he started the game against Leeds with Jorginho.
“If he misses it, I’m very disappointed because he was a clear starter. If you look at the quality with him and Jorgi in the center of midfield when it was 11v11. It was a strong start and he is a key figure for us. He played against Liverpool in both of the last matches from the beginning if I remember right and was very strong. He’s super, super hungry, and determined to play these matches. We will see. Maybe we have a miracle and it will be possible”
“I did not see the challenge live, I was just focused on something else and saw it from a distance on the iPad. I’m not good at looking at these situations because it hurts me physically to watch it but everybody told me it is a clear red card.”
Cannot tell you how much this is making me so angry!!! Especially 3 days before a FA cup final. The challenge from Dan James was wild. pic.twitter.com/RVXuCIJrnW
— Frank Khalid (@FrankKhalidUK) May 11, 2022
Despite the fact that Chelsea and Liverpool are in different places in terms of success, the teams’ quality, both offensively and defensively is 50-50, and a thrilling match on Sunday evening is expected.
In the last decade, Liverpool and Chelsea have enjoyed a terrific rivalry, and both sides will have to do some dirty work to win the FA Cup this weekend.
