Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed that striker Armando Broja has been ruled out of the Premier League derby against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening.
The Albanian made his long-awaited injury comeback against Aston Villa last month and he subsequently started in the 2-0 win at Fulham where he scored his maiden goal. Broja completed another 45 minutes in the victory at Burnley, but he won’t be available for the upcoming derby against arch-rivals Arsenal.
The 22-year-old did not feature for Albania during the international break and speaking in today’s pre-match press conference, Pochettino has confirmed that the striker is out for the derby with an irritation in his knee. The manager clarified that it is on a different knee to the one which required a surgery.
He told via Chelsea’s official website: “Armando Broja is out because he’s irritated his knee a little bit, but it is the other knee, not the one that was a problem in the past.”
Big blow
Chelsea currently have two specialist strikers in Nicolas Jackson and Broja. Jackson has been the regular starter for them in the no.9 role, but he has been very disappointing. The Senegalese has netted only 2 goals from 7 games in the top-flight and they have come against Burnley and Luton, who are relegation-threatened sides.
Jackson has been prone to missing several big chances for Chelsea. Broja’s return to action was welcomed by Chelsea fans, but it seems he has suffered another setback in his young career. With him on the sidelines, it is clear that Jackson will lead the attack against Arsenal at the weekend and he has plenty to prove.
The Senegal man has been able to get into superb scoring positions in the box, but his finishing has been poor. If he can’t improve on this aspect in the forthcoming matches, Chelsea may start contemplating the purchase of another striker during the January transfer window. They are already looking at Brentford’s Ivan Toney.
