Chelsea have been dealt a major injury blow on the eve of their Carabao Cup visit to Anfield on Wednesday night.
The Blues go to Liverpool off the back of a chastening Premier League defeat at home to Tottenham, which Joao Pedro missed due to an issue he suffered in training the day before.
The Brazil forward had netted five goals in his first seven games of the season, with his absence representing a significant blow for the west Londoners.
Joao Pedro absent for Chelsea tomorrow night
Xabi Alonso spoke to the media this afternoon to preview Chelsea’s clash against the Reds, and the manager confirmed that the 25-year-old now faces a prolonged spell out of action.
The ex-Liverpool midfielder said of Joao Pedro (via chelseafc.com): “He has an injury in his thigh and he’s going to be out for a few weeks. Let’s see how many; we don’t want to predict that, but he will not be ready for the next games.
“He is a key player and we will miss him, but we have to be ready to deal with the injury, be competitive and try to win games with the players we have available, starting tomorrow against Liverpool, a cup game. This is the situation and we are ready to fight for it and prove we can show a good level.”
(Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
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A massive injury blow for Chelsea
For Chelsea to be without their current top scorer for the season at Anfield on Wednesday – and over the next few weeks – comes as a huge setback to Alonso’s side.
Tomorrow mightn’t be the only match against Liverpool that he misses – the update from the Blues boss suggests that Joao Pedro might still be absent when the Reds visit Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on 5 December, 39 days from now.
The Brazilian’s absence could be offset by a potential club debut for Emmanuel Emegha, who’s been passed fit to play after recovering from a hamstring injury (chelseafc.com), and Alonso also has veteran centre-forward Danny Welbeck to call upon.
Andoni Iraola has a few injury worries with which to contend for Wednesday night, with the LFC head coach saying today that Dominik Szoboszlai and Victor Munoz will probably miss the Chelsea game.
We expect that both teams will be much-changed from their respective weekend games in the Premier League, and we wish Joao Pedro well in his recovery from the thigh problem which has sidelined him for the next while.