Robert Sanchez came off injured in the dying minutes of Chelsea’s loss at Everton (Photo: Getty)
Mauricio Pochettino has provided a concerning update on Robert Sanchez and Marc Cucurella after the pair came off injured during Chelsea’s defeat at Everton.
The Blues were beaten 2-0 at Goodison Park on Sunday courtesy of goals from Abdoulaye Doucoure and Lewis Dobbin.
The result has left Chelsea languishing in 12th in the Premier League table, a whopping 14 points off the top four, as calls for Pochettino to be sacked increase.
To make matters worse for the manager, he was dealt a number of injury blows during the Toffees game, with captain Reece James notably limping off midway through the first-half with a hamstring issue.
Later in the 84th minute, goalkeeper Sanchez and left-back Cucurella were also forced off and replaced by Dorde Petrovic and Ian Maatsen, the former making his Chelsea debut.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Pochettino revealed that the Spanish shot-stopper actually picked up an injury during Wednesday’s 2-1 defeat at Manchester United and was clearly frustrated to see the list of injured players grow even more.
‘He [Sanchez] suffered a problem against Manchester United in his knee and he felt something in the second half,’ the manager said.
Marc Cucurella ‘twisted his ankle’ during the Everton loss (Photo: Getty)
‘Hope it is not a big issue like Marc Cucurella, twisted his ankle. Hope we can recover as soon as possible.
‘These type of circumstances we are dealing with from the beginning and it is too much if we want to progress.’
The Chelsea treatment room is close to bursting, with the trio joining the likes of Wesley Fofana, Romeo Lavia, Malo Gusto and Christopher Nkunku on the sidelines.
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The injury to Cucurella is especially concerning as first-choice left-back Ben Chilwell is also ruled out until the new year with a thigh problem, with the youngMaatsen and centre-back Levi Colwill the only options left in that position.
Thankfully for the Blues, their remaining fixtures in 2023 are, on paper at least, very favourable, namely Sheffield United, Wolves, Crystal Palace and Luton, as well as Newcastle in the Carabao Cup quater-final.
But based on their current from, there is certainly no guarantee of success for Pochettino’s side over the festive period.
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