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Chelsea travel to face Watford today in the Premier League, and Thomas Tuchel could be forced into a few changes to the starting XI. The Blues have a big squad this season, but many players are carrying knocks or are already on the sidelines.
Ben Chilwell is out for the year after he suffered an ACL injury in the 4-0 win over Juventus last month. Mateo Kovacic and N'Golo Kante will also miss the trip to Watford, while Tuchel has cast doubt over the involvement of Jorginho, Reece James and Timo Werner.
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Predicted Chelsea XI: Edouard Mendy, Cesar Azpilicueta, Trevoh Chalobah, Andreas Christensen, Antonio Rudiger, Marcos Alonso, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Saul, Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Speaking about the injuries, Tuchel said in his press conference:
"For the game tomorrow at Watford, for sure we will be without Chilly, Kova and N'Golo who are all out and then we have some doubts over some other players that we need a bit more time on, to do some examinations on before deciding whether they can be involved."
"Reece James, Jorginho and Timo Werner we will have to wait and then decide on. They all finished training with us today but there will be some last-minute decisions on those players for sure," said the Chelsea boss.
Chelsea gear up for hectic schedule with an injured squad
Chelsea are doing well in the Premier League and other competitions this season, but they are facing some injury issues. Christian Pulisic is back along with Kai Havertz, but they are now without Chilwell (their best left wing-back), Kovacic (their best player so far this season), and the irreplaceable Kante.
However, Tuchel is not thinking long-term just yet and is looking to take things game-by-game. He said:
"It will be challenging but it has been challenging before. We won't change our routine. We have a tight communication with the medical and fitness department and we tried to predict the load, look at who is overloaded and underloaded, and from there we see what we will need in the next game. As you know, we take it step by step. If you look too far ahead you will see there are tough weeks coming."
On Sunday, Chelsea dropped points against Manchester United – who were thrashed 4-1 by Watford a week ago.
