Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel took his team to face Southampton in the Premier League tonight but is still undecided on how to pick his team when there are only two midfielders currently available to him. Injury to N’Golo Kante and suspension to Conor Gallagher made a big impact – but there is more.The Blues can’t count on their Croatian midfielder Mateo Kovacic either. Even though the former Real Madrid player is officially available, he’s only half-fit and probably cannot perform for 90 minutes.When the season kicked off, Tuchel felt he had a healthy pool of options with Jorginho, Kovacic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek also in his thoughts and Carney Chukwuemeka arriving from Aston Villa. However, the German coach will only have Jorginho and Loftus-Cheek available.##NAJAVA_MECA_6606278##To add to the irony, the Stamford Bridge club has released midfielder Ross Barkley from his contract a year early. The former Everton starlet arrived in London four years ago for a fee of nearly $20 million. However, the 28-year-old couldn’t rediscover his form and is now a free agent after the club decided to cut their losses short and get rid of one of the high earners.Tuchel has already called on the Chelsea hierarchy to provide him with more signings in the final few days of the transfer window. They have already recruited Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly and Marc Cucurella as the new owners, Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali invested heavily in revamping the squad. They are currently the biggest spenders in the Premier League, but the German wants more. “Right now, I think we could need some more players in some positions,. It’s very close to the end of the transfer window and when 1 September comes, I will be a happy coach no matter what happens. I will try to find solutions and not think about what might have happened or could be.”The Blues are pushing to sign Leicester’s Wesley Fofana, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Barcelona and Everton’s Anthony Gordon. But whoever they sign – neither of those players will be available to help the team tonight at Saint Mary’s.🔁 #CFC need to sign a few more players, says Thomas Tuchel. pic.twitter.com/5ehXwcU50I— We’ve Won It All (@cfcwonitall) August 29, 2022 But there is hope for Tuchel’s men – especially the forwards. Southampton has often proved a safe haven for the Blues, who have scored on each of the past 17 meetings between the clubs. The Saints conceded 44 home goals against the Londoners in that time, the most against any opponent. Equally, only at Tottenham’s various grounds have Chelsea found the net more times – 51.Southampton have responded to adversity this season, coming back from losing positions to earn points against Leeds and at Leicester. That does not alter the fact the 13th-placed club have conceded the first goal in three of their four league outings.PREMIER LEAGUE – MATCHDAY 5Tuesday21.30: (3.30) Fulham (3.25) Brighton (2.40)21.30: (2.20) Crystal Palace (3.35) Brentford (3.60)21.45: (5.90) Southampton (4.00) Chelsea (1.65)22.00: (2.20) Leeds (3.40) Everton (3.60)Wednesday21.30: (3.60) Bournemouth (3.35) Wolverhampton (2.20)21.30: (1.50) Arsenal (4.40) Aston Villa (7.50)21.30: (1.10) Man.City (13.0) Nott.Forest (25.0)21.45: (3.80) West Ham (3.60) Tottenham (2.05)22.00: (1.33) Liverpool (5.90) Newcastle (9.50)Thursday22.00: (3.80) Leicester (3.50) Man.Utd. (2.10)***odds are subject to change
