Chelsea’s ongoing injury crisis took another terrible turn on Thursday, as attackers Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic were each subbed off early in the first half.
Both players joined Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in missing Sunday’s FA Cup beatdown at the hands of Manchester City, and Graham Potter’s issued an update on their statuses.
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“Christian’s going to be out for a couple of months we think,” Graham Potter said Wednesday. “Hopefully it will be less, but that’s the timeframe there. We think Raheem will be out for less time than Christian. We’re still evaluating the actual extent of it, but hopefully it will be less than that.”
An excellent block by John Stones to prevent Christian Pulisic from potentially scoring.
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) January 5, 2023
📺: @peacock #MyPLMorning | #CHEMCI pic.twitter.com/Z1GivXdHqD
The timelines come on the same day Chelsea acquired Joao Felix on loan from Atletico Madrid, a coincidental but fitting marriage of news.
Sterling was injured first, subbed off in just the 5th minute after suffering an apparent leg injury in the opening moments. Prior to the start of Chelsea vs Manchester City, the Blues had just one injury to an attacking player, Armando Broja.
Pulisic’s injury occurred in the 16th minute, during a bright attacking moment for Chelsea. Marc Cucurella won the ball back high up the field and found Kai Havertz with a pass to the top of the penalty area. Havertz slipped the ball past a defender and into Pulisic’s path roughly nine yards from goal. Pulisic tried to shoot first-time, but John Stones came sliding in from Pulisic’s right to block the shot before making contact with his knee on the follow-through.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang comes on for Raheem Sterling less than five minutes into the match after Sterling suffers an apparent leg injury.
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) January 5, 2023
📺: @peacock #MyPLMorning | #CHEMCI pic.twitter.com/O9YfIlf8IC
After having to sub Raheem Sterling off earlier in the match, Chelsea are being forced to use their second sub window of the match within the first 20 minutes.
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) January 5, 2023
This time it's for Christian Pulisic.
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Sterling and Pulisic join N’Golo Kante (thigh - hasn’t played since Aug. 14), Reece James (knee - injured again in the first game after the World Cup, after missing the World Cup due to injury), Wesley Fofana (knee - just two PL appearances since signing from Leicester - hasn’t played since Oct. 5), Edouard Mendy (shoulder - out since the World Cup) and Broja (knee - injured during the World Cup break) on the Blues’ injured list, which is chock full of key players from every part of the field. Mason Mount also missed Thursday’s game after picking up a knock in training this week.
Chelsea (10th place) sat 10 points back of 4th-place Manchester United when Thursday’s game began.