Silva, Kante, Pulisic – Chelsea team news and injury latest ahead of the international break


Chelsea picked up a much-needed three points on Saturday against Southampton, a win that followed back-to-back defeats in the Premier League and Champions League.

It means that Thomas Tuchel heads into the international break with his troops topping the top-flight table and he will be eager to cement that position when they return in two weeks’ time.

Trevoh Chalobah, Timo Werner and Ben Chilwell were all on target against the Saints as Chelsea won 3-1 at Stamford Bridge, the latter pair heading off the international duty with England and Germany respectively.

The Three Lions face World Cup qualifiers with Andorra and Hungary as they continue to attempt to put the pain of the summer behind them.


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Tuchel had plenty of fitness issues to contend with on Saturday with Reece James, N’Golo Kante and Christian Pulisic all missing out with various ailments.

The German will be crossing his fingers that those issues are sorted by the time the Premier League resumes and the trip to Brentford.

For now, we take a look at the state of those previous fitness issues and any others problems that have arisen.

N’Golo Kante

Kante missed both the loss to Juventus and win against Southampton after testing positive for Covid-19.

“N’Golo has symptoms but not a lot of symptoms, so he’s okay,” Tuchel said in his latest midfielder update.

“I don’t want to go into more details. He’s okay. He’s doing well.

“He was concerned about it [in the past], and he did everything not to get it. Unfortunately, he tested positive but we care about him, like we care about every player. We’re in touch with him every single day. The doctors are in touch with him and he has our advice and our support, and he is in a good way.”



N'Golo Kante will miss Chelsea's Champions League tie with Juventus. (Photo by Chloe Knott - Danehouse/Getty Images)
N’Golo Kante will miss Chelsea’s Champions League tie with Juventus. (Photo by Chloe Knott – Danehouse/Getty Images)

However, it appears that the midfielder is back to health and Tuchel will no doubt be happy the player will not be jetting off with France over the next couple of weeks.

The 30-year-old was pictured in training with his manager and now has time to get back to match sharpness.

Reece James

James was surprisingly called up by Gareth Southgate shortly after limping off the pitch against Manchester City with an ankle injury.

Tuchel expressed his surprise at the call-up after the news broke and James did eventually pull out of the squad and will remain at Cobham to work on his fitness.

It is unlikely the right-back will be involved in full training but there remains a chance that he will return in time to face Brentford.

Christian Pulisic



BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND – JULY 27: Christian Pulisic of Chelsea during the Pre-Season Friendly between Bournemouth and Chelsea at Vitality Stadium on July 27, 2021 in Bournemouth, England. (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)

Much like James, Pulisic will be looking to regain full fitness while his colleagues fly around the world to play international football.

Pulisic is a mainstay in the United States national team but will not be flying across the pond after suffering an ankle injury during the last international break.

“Do we miss Christian Pulisic? Of course we do, his sprints and intensity,” Tuchel said prior to the Southampton match.

Thiago Silva

Don’t worry, the Brazilian colossus is not injured, but his call up to the Brazilian national team does mean he will likely miss the clash with Brentford.

South American sides are having to play a higher number of games in the build up to the 2022 World Cup, meaning the 36-year-old will not return until the morning of the west London derby.

Silva will face Venezuela, Colombia and Uruguay in World Cup qualifiers and Tuchel will be watching on through his fingers and praying the defender does not pick up an injury.





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