Chelsea's defensive record could get a lot worse with Maxence Lacroix out
Midweek could not have gone any worse for Chelsea as they were dumped out of the Carabao Cup by Liverpool at Anfield, and Moises Caicedo, Maxence Lacroix, and Malo Gusto all had to be forced off by injury.
Xabi Alonso said after the game that it is too early to determine the extent of Lacroix's injury, after the French defender appeared to have pulled his hamstring after chasing Cody Gakpo through midfield towards the end of the first half and had to be replaced by Levi Colwill.
Too early to tell. Probably he felt something on the hamstrings. And we need a couple of days to check what's going to be the injury.
Lacroix has been a key part of Chelsea's defence in the early part of the season after joining from Crystal Palace in the summer. Still, a fresh injury gives Xabi Alonso some headaches ahead of their game against Manchester United on Saturday, with Joao Pedro, Jamie Gittens, Reece James and Emiliano Martinez all already out injured.
What will worry Chelsea fans about the length of time that Lacroix could be out for was the fact that he was clutching the back of his left thigh whilst being escorted off by Chelsea's medics, which might mean he could be out for anywhere between two and 12 weeks depending on what the results are when it gets looked at.
Even with Lacroix in the side this season to shore up Chelsea's defence, the Blues have been leaking goals this season, having the joint third-worst defence in the league, conceding 15 goals in their opening eight Premier League games, but still sit fifth in the table.
With the French international's absence, if Alonso chose to play a four at the back, the centre-back pairing would most likely be Levi Colwill and Josh Acheampong with new signing Marco Palestra playing right back and Pedro Neto being pushed a little further forward out onto the wing.
This injury to Lacroix could have happened for a number of reasons as the 29 year old until last night had played 90 minutes in all but two games for both club and country so far this season, so some might had seen this coming.
But trying to find a positive in a negative, you could say that Chelsea's run of fixtures until the start of December, when they play Liverpool and Manchester City aren't the hardest, but then again it is the Premier League in which there are no easy games, so if there was a time for one of their key players to miss some time and come back ready for the busy festive period it would be now.
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