https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2021/08/20/
tuchel-press-conference-team-news-ahead-of-arsenal
Pulisic misses out but trio could all feature at Arsenal
20 Aug 2021
Thomas Tuchel used his Friday media conference to provide the latest team
news ahead of Sunday's London derby at Arsenal…
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Christian Pulisic will miss the game after testing positive for Covid-19
earlier in the week. However, the boss hinted that Romelu Lukaku could be
in line for his second Chelsea debut after a strong week of training,
while Hakim Ziyech and N'Golo Kante have both been training in recent days
and could return after missing the Premier League opener against Crystal
Palace.
'With Christian, it's unfortunately very easy to explain,' said Tuchel.
'He had a positive test and needs to follow the protocols so he won't be
available for the game.
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'Hakim and N'Golo were both in training today and they had no problems. We
need to have a more intense session tomorrow with them and the team before
we decide but right now it seems positive that both can be in the squad
for Sunday.'
For Ziyech in particular, it was a cruel injury blow suffered in the Super
Cup, curtailing a promising pre-season campaign and a goalscoring
contribution in Belfast. While Tuchel is pleased to see the Moroccan back
in training, he offered a word of caution about rushing the forward back
too quickly.
'He was very promising in pre-season and had some very good matches last
season but also some difficulties and hard decisions for me to take,' he
added. 'He has been impressive and his attitude has been absolutely right
to grow and to show personality.
'He was decisive in every single friendly game we played and also in the
final against Villarreal so it was very unfortunate that he got injured.
Now we need to take care of him because on one side we are very happy that
he's back in the pitch but with a shoulder injury it can be a bit tricky.
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Ziyech picked up a shoulder injury in our Super Cup victory
'Tomorrow is a decisive training session for him where we will see how far
it can go and how much sense it makes. The good thing with a shoulder
injury is you can still run and keep your fitness so you don't lose too
much of that.
'He has many training sessions in his legs so once he gives the green
light and feels totally free then hopefully he can find his performance
from this season very quickly.'
Ten years on from his first appearance for the Blues, Lukaku is back and
looking to hit the ground running at the Emirates. After a positive week
of work at Cobham, the signs are looking good that the Belgian will
feature against the Gunners.
'We have one more training session to go but the week was a heavy load for
him because he was in the group with the late starters from our guys so it
was an overload week so far,' added the boss.
'Today [Friday] was lower intensity and tomorrow we have important
training for the match but we are hoping he will be on the pitch for
Sunday and things look like it.'