Chelsea suffer fresh injury blow after Zenit draw

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that a fresh injury blow following the 3-3 Champions League draw against Zenit on the road.

The Blues were without N'Golo Kante, Jorginho, Ben Chilwell, Trevoh Chalobah and Mateo Kovacic (also Covid) with injuries last night.

They have now suffered another setback after Ruben Loftus-Cheek picked up an injury in the warm-up session before yesterday's encounter.

Loftus-Cheek was an unused substitute against the Russian champions, and he is now a major doubt to face Leeds United on Saturday afternoon.

Reece James and Ross Barkley played in a makeshift midfield against Zenit, and Tuchel could be forced to play with the same duo this weekend.

Saul Niguez is another option at the manager's disposal, but the Spain international has failed to adapt to pace of the Premier League thus far.

He has looked out of his depth in league games against Aston Villa and Watford, and may not be risked against a tireless Leeds side.