Chelsea Boss Gives Update On Kante Injury

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has revealed that the reason why N’Golo Kante was substituted against Liverpool on Saturday came due to the same ankle injury that kept him out of the Blues’ previous Premier League clash with Arsenal.

The France international started against the Reds but was replaced with Kovacic at half-time due to injury. A challenge from Sadio Mane brought down Kante, forcing an early exit, and now Tuchel has revealed that he was removed because he aggravated an existing injury.

“He is injured, he had to go out,” the Tuchel explained in his post-match press conference. “He missed the Arsenal game because of pain in his ankle and a little bit of inflammation.

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“[It’s] nothing serious because he was back in training and, as you could see, he started today. In winning the ball in this situation, the opponent fell on his ankle, [and] twisted it again.

“He immediately had the same pain as before the Arsenal game when he missed it. He was lacking the force to accelerate and we had to take him off.

“Can there be any harder challenges than going one man down, taking off N’Golo Kante at half time, and having Liverpool play towards the Kop? But we did excellently and we are super happy with what we did. We deserved the point.”

Kante has been a cornerstone of Chelsea’s success in recent years, culminating in last term’s Champions League triumph.

He was also awarded the Champions League midfielder of the season for his crucial part played in his team’s eventual trophy win.

The injury sustained by Kante is not only a concern for Chelsea but for his country as well. With the injury, it seems unlikely he may be able to feature in France’s World Cup Qualifiers next month.

Chelsea will face Aston Villa in the Premier League after the international break, before their continental campaign gets underway against Zenit.

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