Chelsea star ruled out of Qarabag clash as Enzo Maresca dealt new injury blow | Football | Sport
Chelsea have been hit with a new injury ahead of their Champions League clash against Qarabag, with Pedro Neto ruled out of the match due to a knock. The Blues are looking to continue their impressive run of form when they face the Azerbaijani side at the Tofik Bahramov Stadium on Wednesday night. Pedro Neto was noticeably absent from training at Cobham on Tuesday morning.
The 25-year-old winger was substituted for Estevao Willian in the final moments of Chelsea‘s 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday evening. The change seemed to be a tactical decision, with Enzo Maresca keen to introduce fresh legs. Neto has already made 14 appearances across all competitions for the west London club this season, racking up nearly 1,000 minutes of play. But Maresca said in his pre-match press conference: “Not a [big] problem, just a small issue. So we try to protect him. He’s not involved in tomorrow’s game.”
The Portugal international has started all but three of Chelsea’s matches this term. Moises Caicedo, Reece James, Marc Guiu, Josh Acheampong, Tyrique George, Alejandro Garnacho, Marc Cucurella, Enzo Fernandez, Estevao, Joao Pedro, Facundo Buonanotte, Romeo Lavia, Tosin Adarabioyo, Jorrel Hato, Jamie Gittens, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Liam Delap, and Malo Gusto were all seen in training.
Speaking to journalists at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday evening, Maresca offered an update on Pedro, who has been managing an injury concern of late. The Chelsea manager said: “Joao has never been a problem.
“The problem with Joao is that he’s not training every day, because he has problems. He has some problems that we are trying to manage. So, it’s normal that then the consequence is that you cannot be 100 per cent and fit every game.
“But I’m not worried about Joao, because Joao is a good player, he’s going to score goals. Even when he didn’t score, he had some good games. For instance, against Liverpool, I think he was also very good.
“Now we have Liam [Delap] back, that also can help us as a striker. So, we have already a different option, that is a good thing for us, because since we started, we are without Cole [Palmer], we have been two months without Liam. So we need offensive players.”
When pressed about the result, Maresca expressed his ambition to improve defensively. The Chelsea manager added: “I think the performance was very good on the ball and off the ball.
“For sure the way we tried to press was very important, but I also think that our game against Liverpool off the ball was top game, was very good, and you need that.
“You need that if you want to be close to the top, you need to be defensively solid. As I said, we know that almost always score goals, but we need also to try to concede less goals.”
