Havertz and Pulisic injury blows for Chelsea ahead of Premier League’s return
Last Updated: November 19, 2020 2:37 pm
Havertz & Pulisic out
Players are seemingly dropping left and right, with both positive Covid-19 results and injury issues. There is barely a club across the continent who have not been affected by the issues of the international break.
And Chelsea, on Wednesday, are the latest to have been hit, by a pair of blows.
Neither summer signing Kai Havertz or Christian Pulisic are expected to be available for the club’s trip to Newcastle. Frank Lampard has been frustrated by a continuous stream of fitness problems.
The tantalising prospect of Havertz and Pulisic playing alongside Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech has not yet taken shape, due to persistent issues.
Havertz missed Chelsea’s last couple of fixtures due to a positive Covid-19 test, and was thus unable to take part in full-training, As such, as things stand, the German is still gradually building up match fitness.
Meanwhile, Pulisic, who suffered a bad hamstring injury in last season’s FA Cup final, sustained a setback late last month. The problem is likely to keep the American out for around 1-2 more weeks.
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 09: Christian Pulisic of Chelsea celebrates after scoring his team’s second goal during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge on November 09, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Lampard’s risk
Frank Lampard’s role at Chelsea has of course changed dramatically – from player to the main man as manager. Speaking recently on Eddie Hearne’s ‘No Passion No Point’ Podcast, Lampard opened up on the challenges he faces:
“The life of a player is a bubble of selfishness to a degree,” he said.
“The facts and reality is I realise now it’s much harder than playing in terms of it being consuming. The life of a manager is 25 people in the squad, staff in the building, problems with different departments. It’s so far removed from football.”
“When you work for your coaching badges, you have to put time in. Then when you start doing it, you have to practise, you have to fail, get better, fail and have relationships with people you never had as a player.”
“Players can easily sit there and say they want to be a manager, then they start the road and say: ‘Actually, I want to be a pundit.’ I respect it because being a pundit is tough as well but in terms of management I wanted to test the water.”
“A manager gets 50 problems a day. It’s much more consuming but I love it and couldn’t live without it.”
Lampard secured Champions League football for Chelsea last season. This came despite the west London side having been slapped with a transfer ban, with meant they were unable to bring in new players. Since, though, with financial backing, the Blues legend has secured a wide range of quality reinforcements, whom Lampard will soon hope to see competing for major honours at Stamford Bridge.
Premier League Covid cases on the rise as Arsenal and Spurs stars the latest to test positive
Explanation provided for Christian Pulisic’s late withdrawal from Chelsea XI to face Burnley
This article was edited by Conor Laird.
Chelsea betting odds, next game:
Chelsea vs Wolverhampton odds: result, both teams to score, correct score & goalscorers
| Chelsea vs Wolverhampton Result/Both teams score | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|
| Chelsea | 13/5 | 15/8 |
| Wolverhampton | 15/2 | 7/1 |
| Draw | 4/1 | 11/1 |
| Chelsea vs Wolverhampton Goalscorers | First | Last | Anytime |
|---|---|---|---|
| Olivier Giroud | 15/8 | 15/8 | 21/20 |
| Timo Werner | 15/8 | 15/8 | 21/20 |
| Tammy Abraham | 21/10 | 21/10 | 11/10 |
| Christian Pulisic | 3/1 | 3/1 | 7/4 |
| Callum Hudson-Odoi | 7/2 | 7/2 | 15/8 |
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| # | Team | MP | D | P |
| 1 | Manchester United FC | 19 | 11 | 40 |
| 2 | Manchester City FC | 18 | 18 | 38 |
| 3 | Leicester City FC | 19 | 14 | 38 |
| 4 | Liverpool FC | 18 | 16 | 34 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 18 | 16 | 33 |
| 6 | Everton FC | 17 | 7 | 32 |
| 7 | West Ham United FC | 19 | 5 | 32 |
| 8 | Chelsea FC | 19 | 10 | 29 |
| 9 | Southampton FC | 18 | 5 | 29 |
| 10 | Arsenal FC | 19 | 4 | 27 |
| 11 | Aston Villa FC | 16 | 11 | 26 |
| 12 | Leeds United | 18 | -4 | 23 |
| 13 | Crystal Palace FC | 19 | -11 | 23 |
| 14 | Wolverhampton Wanderers FC | 19 | -8 | 22 |
| 15 | Newcastle United FC | 18 | -12 | 19 |
| 16 | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 19 | -7 | 17 |
| 17 | Burnley FC | 17 | -13 | 16 |
| 18 | Fulham FC | 18 | -12 | 12 |
| 19 | West Bromwich Albion | 19 | -28 | 11 |
| 20 | Sheffield United FC | 19 | -22 | 5 |
| Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 13 |
| Kane, Harry | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 12 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 12 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 11 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City FC | 11 |
| Calvert-Lewin, Dominic | Everton FC | 11 |
| Bamford, Patrick | Leeds United | 10 |
| Zaha, Wilfried | Crystal Palace FC | 8 |
| Wilson, Callum | Newcastle United FC | 8 |
| Rashford, Marcus | Manchester United FC | 7 |
| Ings, Danny | Southampton FC | 7 |
| Maupay, Neal | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 7 |
| Lacazette, Alexandre | Arsenal FC | 7 |
| Mane, Sadio | Liverpool FC | 6 |
| Maddison, James | Leicester City FC | 6 |
| Watkins, Ollie | Aston Villa FC | 6 |
| Barnes, Harvey | Leicester City FC | 6 |
| Abraham, Tammy | Chelsea FC | 6 |
| Grealish, Jack | Aston Villa FC | 5 |
| Sterling, Raheem | Manchester City FC | 5 |
| Player | Team | Red Cards | Yellow Cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bellerin, Hector | Arsenal FC | 0 | 6 |
| Gallagher, Conor | West Bromwich Albion | 0 | 6 |
| Bissouma, Yves | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 1 | 5 |
| Egan, John | Sheffield United FC | 1 | 5 |
| Hayden, Isaac | Newcastle United FC | 0 | 6 |
| McGinn, John | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 5 |
| Reid, Bobby | Fulham FC | 0 | 5 |
| Doucoure, Abdoulaye | Everton FC | 0 | 5 |
| Romeu, Oriol | Southampton FC | 0 | 5 |
| Dunk, Lewis | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 1 | 4 |
| Phillips, Kalvin | Leeds United | 0 | 5 |
| Cash, Matty | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 5 |
| Evans, Jonny | Leicester City FC | 0 | 5 |
| Lundstram, John | Sheffield United FC | 1 | 4 |
| Kante, N`Golo | Chelsea FC | 0 | 5 |
| Milivojevic, Luka | Crystal Palace FC | 1 | 4 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 0 | 4 |
| Grealish, Jack | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 4 |
| Ward-Prowse, James | Southampton FC | 0 | 4 |
| Tielemans, Youri | Leicester City FC | 0 | 4 |
| Player | Team | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| Kane, Harry | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 11 |
| De Bruyne, Kevin | Manchester City FC | 9 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 7 |
| Grealish, Jack | Aston Villa FC | 7 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 6 |
| Rashford, Marcus | Manchester United FC | 5 |
| Robertson, Andrew | Liverpool FC | 5 |
| Digne, Lucas | Everton FC | 5 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City FC | 4 |
| Ward-Prowse, James | Southampton FC | 4 |
| Werner, Timo | Chelsea FC | 4 |
| Adams, Che | Southampton FC | 4 |
| Harrison, Jack | Leeds United | 4 |
| Chilwell, Benjamin | Chelsea FC | 4 |
| McGinn, John | Aston Villa FC | 4 |
| Cresswell, Aaron | West Ham United FC | 4 |
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 3 |
| Ings, Danny | Southampton FC | 3 |
| Sterling, Raheem | Manchester City FC | 3 |
| Firmino, Roberto | Liverpool FC | 3 |
