Thomas Tuchel has revealed that N’Golo Kante is an injury doubt for Chelsea’s Premier League opener against Crystal Palace.
The France international was substituted midway through the second half of Wednesday’s Super Cup victory over Villarreal and is unlikely to feature at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Tuchel said: ‘There is an issue with N’Golo Kante from the [Super Cup] final we need to sort. The decisions are not made yet, who starts and who we push over the line.
Chelsea were forced endure 30 minutes of extra time against Manchester United and Arsenal’s Europa League conquerors before prevailing in a penalty shoot out.
Tuchel was frustrated by the inconvenience of having to play an additional half an hour, especially having already lost Hakim Ziyech, one of Chelsea’s most impressive players during pre-season, to a first half injury.