Same old Chilwell, always injured

New faces constantly arriving at Stamford Bridge have not been the only problem for Chelsea's coaches in the past year and a half. Personnel problems, which could not be solved, gave them even greater trouble in trying to integrate a young and newly formed team. Moreover, the problems are just piling up. The atmosphere at Stamford Bridge after last night's victory over Fulham (2:0), the first in the Premier League after more than a month, was spoiled by the news that Ben Chilwell has to take a new break, at best a two-months one.

Chilwell was not even on the bench against Fulham last night, as he was injured in the last 16 of the League Cup against Brighton in the middle of last week. Blues coach Mauricio Pochettino indicated at a conference two days later, ahead of further tests, that "it could be a hamstring" and that "the situation does not look good", which was confirmed this afternoon by the British Telegraph. According to them, the 26-year-old left-back is expected to be out for at least eight weeks due to the above-mentioned injury, but the recovery time will be key, as his return date could end up being even longer.

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Chilwell also had problems with his hamstring last season, during which he was not on the field for the same reason for a total of four months, before, during and after the World Cup in Qatar, and then at the end of the season. Since the start of the current competitive year, he has played a total of seven games, in four of which he even wore the captain's armband, with the fact that Pochettino used him more often as a winger, while Levi Colville played most often in the position of left back. The Argentinian expert also has Marc Cucurella at the same position. However, Chilwell's two-month absence is a serious blow for Pochettino, as the former Tottenham coach has struggled with injuries since the start of the season. Christopher Nkunku, Reece James, Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana have been out of action for some time, and Moises Caicedo, Mykhailo Mudryk, Benoît Badiashile, Noni Madueke, Trevoh Chalobah and Carney Chukwuemeka also had minor problems with injuries.

Pochettino (51) beats Mudryk (22) in a crossbar challenge!

England coach Gareth Southgate may have bigger problems than Pochettino in putting together the team after Chilwell's injury, since Manchester United defender Luke Shaw is also out of action, and Kieran Trippier could play in that position in the upcoming qualifying match for the European Championship with Italy. who is no stranger to replacing the right side of the field with the left side. Besides him, there are also options for Crystal Palace's Tariq Mitchell and Newcastle's Dan Burn, who played very well in the opening part of the season.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 2

Tuesday

19:45: (1.85) Union Berlin (3.60) Braga (4.80)

19:45: (2.85) Salzburg (3.35) Sociedad (2.65)

22:00: (15.0) Copenhagen (6.75) Bayern (1.23)

22:00: (1.50) Man.Utd. (4.50) Galatasaray (7.25)

22:00: (6.00) Lens (4.00) Arsenal (1.65)

22:00: (2.00) PSV (3.60) Sevilla (4.10)

22:00: (2.60) Napoli (3.50) Real Madrid (2.85)

22:00: (1.83) Inter (3.70) Benfica (4.80)