Thomas Tuchel has confirmed Toni Rudiger and Mateo Kovacic remain out for this weekend’s game against West Ham.
The boss broke the injury news at his press conference at Cobham on Friday afternoon. Rudiger’s absence in particular is a blow, as Tuchel had said prior to the Arsenal defeat he hoped he would be able to call on his compatriot for our third London derby in a row.
‘Both of them are not back for Sunday’s match, but also no other [new] injuries,’ said Tuchel.
Tuchel was speaking at his press conference today
After our midweek loss to Arsenal, the Blues remain five points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham. Tuchel was asked if he felt secure in the top four.
‘We never feel secure in the Premier League, this is my personal feeling,’ he replied.
‘Nobody should, ever. Feeling secure does not keep you on the edge and feeling secure does not keep you fully alert.
‘I never feel safe in any part of the season and nobody should in the Premier League.’
The Blues were beaten at the London Stadium in December
Looking forward to Sunday’s meeting with the Hammers, Tuchel explained why he was impressed with the work David Moyes has done with his side this season. They have a Europa League semi-final against Eintracht Frankfurt starting next week.
‘He’s doing an incredible job. It’s a very popular and emotional club, and a team together with the coach that is enjoyable to watch. I followed the Europa League games, it’s a full investment physically, the players are tired after their matches, it’s a very emotional and physical squad, very hard to break down, very hard to create chances, very dangerous in counter-attacks and set-pieces.
‘There is a lot to take care about. We will need a lot of physicality and commitment to stand up against them, and it will be a very tough one of course.’
