Tottenham Hotspur have been handed a major boost ahead of their Premier League clash against Chelsea on Sunday.
Croatian international Mateo Kovačić will miss the game against Antonio Conte’s side because of a knee injury.
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that Kovacic is currently struggling with his knee and the Blues have decided to reduce his training time and focus on his recovery for now.
“Kova is injured, unfortunately, and has issues with his knee,” Tuchel said on Friday (h/t Metro).
“We decided to take a step back and increase treatment time and reduce the stress that comes from training to have a normal reaction before we start again.”
The 28-year-old was on the bench during Chelsea’s trip to Goodison Park last week and his absence against Spurs could come as a major blow for the home side.
Chelsea barely managed to scrape a win against Everton and they will be up against a confident Tottenham side on Sunday.
Spurs managed to pick up a comfortable 4-1 win at home against Southampton despite not hitting top gear.
It seems that Conte’s men have picked up from where they left off towards the end of last season and they will be full of confidence heading into this contest.
Chelsea will have to improve immensely in order to grind out a positive result against Spurs. The absence of Kovačić will weaken them significantly in the midfield and it remains to be seen whether Spurs can grind out a vital away win against their bitter rivals.
The Croatian is undoubtedly the best midfielder at Chelsea based on his performances last season and the Blues will struggle to control the proceedings in the middle of the park without him.