Chelsea suffered a double blow this week in the worst possible way ahead of a meeting with Liverpool. The Reds have a serious advantage here.
Chelsea announced this week that Ben Chilwell requires knee surgery and won’t play again this season. It’s incredibly unfortunate for the Blues and the timing couldn’t really be any worse.
They’ll host Liverpool on Sunday, after all, in a massive game with title implications. Defeat could see them fall too far away and the race becomes two-horse.
Losing their left-back/wing-back is awful news for them, them. Chilwell would have been the one to marshall Mohamed Salah and his absence makes them significantly weaker. And if that was bad, Wednesday’s blow was even worse.
Reece James went off with a hamstring injury against Brighton. It seems almost impossible that he recovers in time to face Liverpool, leaving Chelsea without both of their first-choice full-backs.
Chelsea suffer worst-case double blow ahead of Liverpool
Liverpool are not a side that tries to blow you away through the middle. They work the flanks, turning to wide players to create virtually everything in the side. They’ll stretch the pitch and attempt to create space in wide positions and channels – something incredibly hard to defend.
But it’s especially difficult to defend when you’re without your first-choice full-backs. The likes of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane have wonderful opportunities to affect this game, then.
Now, it should be said that Leicester City also lacked their best full-backs when they beat Liverpool 1-0 on Tuesday. But Chelsea should be far less content with a point here – they’ll need to attack Liverpool at some stage. After all, they’re in a title race.
If Chelsea do try to attack, Liverpool can count on an advantage for their most creative players. That, surely, will turn the game on Sunday to the Reds.
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