It appears that Chelsea FC could be without their best player when they restart the season on Sunday June 21 at Aston Villa. That’s according to ESPN, who report that Blues boss Frank Lampard is concerned that midfielder N’Golo Kante won’t be match fit in time for kickoff.
Due to coronavirus fears, Kante has yet to train in a group session with his teammates, and has instead maintained an individual program. The side staged an intrasquad scrimmage at Stamford Bridge over the weekend, with the Frenchman being the only notable first team senior squad absentee.
The ESPN FC report states that Kante “is concerned about the risk of infection to other family members. Chelsea remain wholly supportive of Kante’s stance and have not put him under any pressure whatsoever to return to group training.”
The team will not force the previous PFA Players’ Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year award winner into getting on the same page as his teammates, but they are worried about his being behind schedule when it comes to match fitness.
Chelsea currently hold the fourth and final UEFA Champions League qualification slot, by three points over Manchester United. However, the Red Devils will come back after the break with leading scorer Marcus Rashford, and their most talented player, midfielder Paul Pogba, back healthy.
In other words, they now pose a major threat to Chelsea’s UCL hopes, and the southwest London side will need all hands on deck in order to stave them off during the run-in.
As for Aston Villa, they currently sit in 19th place, and they need all the points they can get in order to safely escape the relegation zone. So this will be a match where both sides have a lot on the line.
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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