Chelsea have suffered a potentially hammer blow to their title prospects with both Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner having picked up injuries against Malmo.
Malmo, though they may be the Swedish champions, are among the weakest teams in this season’s Champions League. Thomas Tuchel was expected to ring the changes for the contest.
Tuchel said in the week that Romelu Lukaku had been playing TOO much football, which heavily insinuated that he was going to give the Belgian the night off. Chelsea shouldn’t have needed him, anyway.
Still, Tuchel made the decision to field virtually a full-strength side, with Lukaku leading the line alongside Werner, a pairing which has been trialled frequently in recent weeks.
Unfortunately for anyone with any affiliation, both players picked up injuries during the contest and now look set to spend the next few weeks on the sidelines – the specific period is unknown at this point.
MORE: Video: Chelsea’s Reece James speaks out on how recent burglary has affected him
Though Chelsea’s squad is rich in quality, being without their two natural centre-forwards for multiple weeks could prove to be enough to implode their title charge.
The quality in the title race this campaign is like nothing we have seen before. The title will be won be fine margins, and you wonder if those margins could emerge against the Blues in the coming weeks…