talk Chelsea
·18 September 2026
Thomas Tuchel drops Chelsea injury news bomb on matchday

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Yahoo sportstalk Chelsea
·18 September 2026

Chelsea took a risk by staying short in midfield, and it’s already costing them with news of another injury in the middle.
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Xabi Alonso loves to keep injury news to himself, and it’s quite hilarious that this week we’ve been getting more information from national team coaches then we are from our own manager.
We heard about Joao Pedro’s issue before Alonso said anything, and now we’ve got more devastating news – Thomas Tuchel has just confirmed in his England press conference that Reece James hasn’t been called up because he’s hurt.

Reece with Tuchel (Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)
It’s not clear how bad it is, but even just missing tonight’s game is a huge blow. With Enzo Fernandez sold; Jordan Henderson and Moises Caicedo also hurt, the only two fit senior central midfielders are Romeo Lavia and Valentin Barco. Not really who you want in a two man midfield against Brentford.
The decision to not do the Enzo deal earlier and the failure to sign a replacement is already doing huge damage to our season and we’re just a few weeks in.
Tonight’s game is going to be tough. But if we stay optimistic, it’s hopefully a very minor problem for James, who then gets three full weeks off to recover.
Cristiano could have been a Chelsea player – but Thomas Tuchel put his foot down despite Jorge Mendes’ best efforts.
Clearlake are now sole owners of Chelsea, and the future of the club is now entirely in their hands. Here’s what they’ve got in mind.
Xabi Alonso’s predicted team for tonight is forced into some injury changes, and faces a tough battle against Brentford.
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