Chelsea’s tragic December: injuries and points lost. Who will the Blues bring in January?

The arrival of Thomas Tuchel had a very positive effect on Chelsea, as evidenced by the Champions League win. Not surprisingly, many people tipped the Blues to be Premier League winners as well. The club had a great start to the season, but is now in crisis.

Chelsea played to pre-season expectations for a long time, but they also dominated the Premier League for a few weeks. After December, they dropped only 1 place, but now they are 8 points behind the leaders City.

This is far from an insurmountable gap, but Guardiola’s charges will certainly not catch up easily. Especially when Chelsea are still losing important players and equally important points.

In the last month, Lukaku, Werner, Havertz, Kanté, Kovacic, Loftus-Cheek, and Silva have all been missing due to injury or coronavir. Moreover, back in November, Chilwell was injured for a long time and Reece James was forced to make a substitution in Wednesday’s draw with Brighton, and his absence is also likely to be long-term.

It is the loss of both wing-backs that will probably worry Tuchel the most, as this position is crucial to his 3-4-3 system. Not surprisingly, the Blues have won only 4 games out of 10 since Chilwell’s injury.

However, the London team has also struggled in other positions – they had to do without Kanté and Kovačić in midfield for a while. Although Tuchel has more players for each position, it can’t be said that Barkley, Saúl, Sarr or Alonso, for example, have taken their chances in the starting line-up that they have been given recently.

It is very likely that Chelsea will be active during the January transfer window, with most speculation about a replacement for Chilwell. The most frequently mentioned is Lucas Digne, who would not be averse to leaving Everton. Sergiño Dest or Nicolás Tagliafico are other possibilities.

Plan B is to call back Emerson from his loan spell at Lyon (according to the latest speculation, however, the French outfit rejected it) or Ian Maatsen from Coventry City.

As for the centre of defence, Chelsea have long been linked with Jules Kunde or Marquinhos, but their arrival as early as January is unrealistic. And the midfield is unlikely to see any January reinforcements either.

Here too, Chelsea have 2 players who have been long term prospects, namely Declan Rice and Aurélien Tchouaméni. Both of them should arrive in the summer at the earliest, however, it is possible that the club will give priority to its talented youngsters, namely Conor Gallagher, who shines at Crystal Palace, or Billy Gilmour.

So in January, it looks like only the left edge of defence will be strengthened – or the right, depending on the length of Reece James’ absence.

Due to injuries to important players and a demanding December schedule, the Blues are not putting in the dominant performances we’ve seen from the start of the season. They’ve won just twice in their last 6 league games. The loss to West Ham, draws against Everton, Wolves and most recently at home to Brighton can be very disappointing for Thomas Tuchel’s charges at the end of the season.

Moreover, it can’t be said that they have the worst behind them – Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham await them in the next 3 rounds of the Premier League. In the meantime, there is also a Carabao Cup semi-final against Spurs, played over 2 matches.

For Chelsea, nothing is lost yet, but Thomas Tuchel will have to deal with the injuries of his players and get his team out of the crisis as soon as possible.

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