CHELSEA DUO TO MISS NEWCASTLE CLASH

Chelsea will be without two of their first team players for the Premier League trip to Newcastle United according to The Athletic. It was revealed that attackers Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic won’t be part of the Blues squad for the league game scheduled for St. James Park on Saturday afternoon. The game between Newcastle United and Chelsea is the first match of Matchweek 9 in the Premier League.

New signing Kai Havertz has missed the last two games for Chelsea after he tested positive for Coronavirus, but he has returned to training after the health authorities gave him the greenlight. The German international also missed the recently concluded international break with his country including the mauling received at the hands of Spain.

Without Havertz, Germany set the record for the most goals conceded in a competitive game with the 6-0 loss to Spain in Seville on Tuesday night. Manchester City forward Ferran Torres was the star of the show after he scored a treble in the UEFA Nations League outing to condemn the Germans to their biggest defeat in competitive football. Germany have not conceded more than six goals in 66 years since the 8-3 loss to Hungary in 1954.

Havertz has returned to Chelsea training, but he’s still not expected to feature against the Magpies. The away game at Rennes in the Champions League is likely to be his comeback game.

For American international Christian Pulisic, he has not played since he sustained a hamstring injury during warm up of the league trip to Burnley at the end of last month. The ex-Borussia Dortmund attacker was expected to be back for Chelsea this weekend, but his comeback has been pushed back by one week after he suffered a setback.

The London Derby with Tottenham Hotspur at home in the Premier League next weekend is a more likely target for his return from the hamstring problem. Pulisic has been dogged by various injuries since his transfer to Chelsea last summer.