Chelsea star Christian Pulisic was out of the starting lineup Sunday for his side’s FA Cup semifinal against Manchester United at Wembley Stadium due to an unspecified injury. He was named to the Blues bench though, so it’s likely that his injury problem is only a minor one.
“They are a very strong side and they have obvious threats in attacking areas, but my concern is what can we do. The couple of changes I have made, with Christian Pulisic dealing with an injury, I think it’s a team that can win the game,” Chelsea manager Frank Lampard said to the BBC prior to kickoff.
Nothing else is really known about the nature of his injury at this time. Pulisic did not feature in the first half, and his side currently leads United (the club Pulisic most admired during his youth) 1-0 at halftime.
The only score of the game was provided via Olivier Giroud, and it came deep into first half stoppage time. Chelsea have enjoyed a 54%-46% advantage in possession for the first half, and they’re also up on shots 6-3 and shots on goal 2-1. With Pulisic having missed such a substantial amount of time this season due to a nasty adductory injury, some have speculated that a problem with this muscle might have flared up again.
After all, he did encounter a setback during his rehabilitation from this injury back in February. Or it could be Lampard just doing a little squad rotation and resting some of his key players to make sure they are fresh for the end of league play, as Chelsea are still fighting to hold on to a spot in the top four.
That might be the likelier scenario, but as we are not actually in the Chelsea dressing room, we don’t really know.
Overall, if he’s not 100% truly match fit, then it’s best to be safe rather than sorry.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
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