Chelsea suffer and Liverpool benefit from latest major Blues injury news

Xabi Alonso has confirmed an injury for a key Chelsea player, and the Blues are set to suffer without their Brazilian talisman.

Xabi Alonso has just taken his press conference ahead of Chelsea’s game in the EFL Cup against Liverpool tomorrow night, and the Chelsea manager confirmed some bad injury news from the weekend.

Striker Joao Pedro missed the game against Tottenham because of an injury, and Alonso gave an update on his status today.

“He has an injury of his thigh and is going to be out for a few weeks. Let’s see how many. He’s not ready for the next games,” Alonso said.

“Of course, he’s a key player. We’ll miss him. We have to be ready to deal with the injury, starting tomorrow with Liverpool.”

Chelsea could turn to new striker option while missing key man

With Joao Pedro out, the manager has a few solutions to hand. On Saturday he elected to move Morgan Rogers up top and bring Geovany Quenda into the team. That really didn’t work – Chelsea had little possession and struggled to create chances.

It’s more likely that the Brazilian will now be replaced directly. Danny Welbeck has been his backup so far this season, but Dutch striker Emmanuel Emegha is now fit and could also make his Blues debut this week.

“For sure, it’s important we have him available,” Alonso said of the former Strasbourg man.

“He’s been training for the last 10 days in a good way to allow him to build up his fitness. Maybe tomorrow he has the chance to play.

There are a few options available – but none are nearly as good as just having a fit Joao Pedro.