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Chelsea played out a thrilling 1-1 draw against Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League on Wednesday. Romelu Lukaku scored the opener for the Blues in the 26th minute with a header from a Mason Mount cross. Danny Welbeck then equalized for Brighton in 90+1', heading in from a Marc Cucurella cross.
Dropping points at home will be disappointing for Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel. But what will be even more frustrating for him is that his side picked up two more injuries to add to the long list.
Reece James and Andreas Christensen had to be subbed off in the first half after picking up respective injuries. After the match, Tuchel spoke about their injuries and their impact on the game. He said:
"Reece James we have a hamstring injury and a back injury for Andreas Christensen. That’s pretty much it."
He added:
"We knew before that this was going to be a tough match against a strong side. They come well prepared, it is always like this. I have not seen one team play a nice match against them (Brighton)."
Tuchel went on to talk about the plethora of injuries Chelsea have had to face in recent times. The likes of N'Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Romelu Lukaku have just started coming back. Meanwhile, Thiago Silva, Timo Werner, Ben Chilwell and others are still out.
The Chelsea boss said:
"It was clear we would struggle, we have simply way too many players with who we don’t know what we can demand. We have long injuries, they come from Covid, I simply don’t know what they are capable of doing."
He added:
"We started very, very well until the injury for Reece James, which was a huge blow. Andreas was until then one of the top players on the pitch."
Tuchel also provided an update on Timo Werner. He said:
"Not good. Not good. Not in training."
When asked if it was because of Covid, he added:
"Yes of course."
Chelsea face tough January fixtures amidst injuries
Chelsea have had an abysmal December in the Premier League. They went from top of the table to second and are now eight points behind leaders Manchester City.
They have won just three of their seven matches in the Premier League in December. Unfortunately, the fixture list is just about to get tougher for the Blues.
They start next month by facing Liverpool on January 2nd in the Premier League. Chelsea will face Tottenham Hotspur thrice in January, once in the league and twice in the two legs of the EFL Cup semi-finals.
They also face a trip to Manchester City in the middle of all of this. Needless to say, January will be a really testing month for Thomas Tuchel and Chelsea.
