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Chelsea duo Mateo Kovacic and Andreas Christensen doubtful for FA Cup final

:Headline: Chelsea duo Mateo Kovacic and Andreas Christensen doubtful for FA Cup final:
The Chelsea pair are carrying injuries.
Sports Mole

Chelsea duo Mateo Kovacic and Andreas Christensen face a race against time to be fit for Saturday's FA Cup final.

Croatia midfielder Kovacic has been sidelined with hamstring trouble since the day before the Blues' Champions League quarter-final second leg with Porto on April 13.

Denmark defender Christensen picked up a tendon problem in Saturday's 2-1 Premier League win at Manchester City and will also be a doubt for the weekend's Wembley showdown with Leicester.

Kovacic and Christensen will both miss Wednesday's Premier League clash with Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.

Thomas Tuchel's side have two cup finals to prepare for (Adan Davy/PA)

Blues boss Thomas Tuchel suggested however that Kovacic could stand more chance of being fit in time to take on the Foxes at Wembley.

"Kova is not ready for tomorrow, we have to postpone it to Wembley," said Tuchel. "So his personal race is on to make it to the squad to Wembley.

"For Andreas, it's better than we feared, much better, the images yesterday, so we hope also for one of the two Leicester games for him to come back.

"It will be also a tough one, but the season is not finished for him hopefully. So we have realistic hopes that his latest comeback will be against Aston Villa."

Mateo Kovacic, left, and Andreas Christensen, right, are big injury doubts for Chelsea's FA Cup final against Leicester (Oli Scarff/PA)

Former Real Madrid player Kovacic missed both legs of Chelsea's Champions League semi-final victory over his old club.

The 27-year-old has excelled under Tuchel, in a deep-lying midfield role alongside either N'Golo Kante or Jorginho.

Tuchel conceded Kovacic's absence has dented Chelsea's ranks, with the German hoping the highly-regarded midfielder will win his fitness battle for Saturday.

"Billy Gilmour has had to step up now because we missed Kova so much, and we play normally always with the double-six," said Tuchel.

  • May 12 - Arsenal in Premier League
  • May 15 - Leicester in FA Cup final
  • May 18 - Leicester in Premier League
  • May 23 - Aston Villa in Premier League
  • May 29 - Manchester City in Champions League final

"So we were constantly rotating between N'Golo, Jorgi and Kova. Once we missed Kova now for so many games and so many weeks, it was on Billy to step up and I was very happy that he could deliver when it was needed. So full credit for that.

"But Kova is a big, big loss with his ability to drive with balls, with his speed on the ball, without the ball.

"Kova is such a positive character, such a unique player, and a genuine fighter on whom you can always rely in training and in games.

"He has big experience even though he's still young. So we really miss him and he's a good match with Jorgi and N'Golo in all combinations.

"So it's a big, big miss and I can't wait until he's back in full team training, and he's taking now some steps in the right direction. And I hope he can join team training after our game against Arsenal."

Christensen has hit a rich vein of form in the last few months under the stewardship of Tuchel, who is lamenting the centre-back's absence.

"Andreas was crucial in the matches where he played and now we miss him, and for some matches around the Porto game as well," said Tuchel.

“Kova is such a positive character, such a unique player, and a genuine fighter on whom you can always rely in training and in games”
- Thomas Tuchel on Mateo Kovacic

"Now he has a tendon problem, and so he was crucial in the back three, he gave us a lot of options because he can play all three positions and he's very calm.

"But don't misjudge him by being calm, he is a very tough one to play against, he uses his body very well, he's very strong in individual duels and is good on the ball.

"So I think that the role in the back three suits him very, very well and I've been very impressed by his performances.

"Now we were a bit relieved yesterday when the images were given and were not as we expected in the worst case.

"So we have realistic hopes the season is not finished for him as well, and this is very, very important."

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Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool108111961325
2Manchester CityMan City1072121111023
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest10541147719
4Chelsea105322012818
5Arsenal105321711618
6Aston Villa105321715218
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs1051422111116
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton104421714316
9Fulham104331413115
10Bournemouth104331312115
11Newcastle UnitedNewcastle104331010015
12Brentford104151920-113
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd10334912-312
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham103251319-611
15Leicester CityLeicester102441418-410
16Everton102351017-79
17Crystal Palace10145813-57
18Ipswich TownIpswich100551021-115
19Southampton10118719-124
20Wolverhampton WanderersWolves100371427-133
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