Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel will be sweating on the fitness of two players when his side return to Premier League action this weekend. The Blues travel to Tottenham on Sunday afternoon as they look to build on their unbeaten start to the new Premier League campaign.
Chelsea have been in sensational form during the early part of the season as Tuchel continues to work his magic in west London.
The Blues opened their season with a 3-0 humbling of Crystal Palace last month, before seeing off Arsenal 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium.
Tuchel’s team then took a point away from Anfield after battling to a 1-1 draw with Liverpool, despite going down to 10 men on the stroke of half time.
And last Saturday, Chelsea got three more points on the board after dispatching Aston Villa 3-0 at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues currently find themselves second in the Premier League table behind Manchester United, who have also picked up three wins and a draw this season.
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But the German boss will be facing a race against time to get N’Golo Kante fit for the game, while Christian Pulisic looks likely to miss out.
Kante was forced off at half time with an ankle injury during Chelsea’s encounter with Liverpool in August.
He initially linked up with the France squad for their three World Cup qualifying games, but pulled out before their first encounter with Bosnia.
The energetic midfielder originally sustained the injury last month while warming-up for his club’s UEFA Super Cup final victory against Villarreal.
He made a return from the bench in Chelsea’s victory over Arsenal before limping off a week later.
Kante returned to training this week but wasn’t deemed fit enough to appear against Zenit on Tuesday.
Pulisic, meanwhile, came off an hour into USA’s 4-1 World Cup qualifying victory over Honduras last week after clashing with opposition captain Maynor Figueroa.
The winger damaged his ankle and returned to the capital on crutches.
Pulisic scored on the opening day of the season against Palace but hasn’t played since after being ruled out of his side’s matches with Arsenal and Liverpool when he tested positive for COVID-19.
“Christian did not train with us,” Tuchel said on Monday ahead of his side’s Champions League clash.
“N’Golo had two sessions yesterday and today but the Champions League game comes too early for him.”