Chelsea Facing Injury Crisis Ahead Of Man Utd Clash

Chelsea are facing a striker crisis ahead of their trip to face Manchester United on Sunday after Loic Remy limped out of their 6-0 win over Maribor on Tuesday night.

Remy opened the scoring in the 13th minute with a left-footed strike from the edge of the area but immediately pulled up holding his groin and signalled to the bench he needed treatment.

The French international was forced off and replaced by Didier Drogba, with the Ivorian also getting on the score-sheet during a 6-0 rout that kept the Blues well on course to qualifying from the group stages of the Champions League.

After the game, Jose Mourinho confirmed to reporters that Remy had suffered a groin injury and was ruled out for ‘a couple of weeks’ which means he’ll miss Sunday’s trip to Old Trafford to face United.

“It’s a muscular injury, I don’t know the dimension and I am not worried. When a player is injured, play another one. No problem. No, I don’t expect him to be fit to face United. Normally a muscular problem is a couple of weeks.” Mourinho is quoted as saying by the Telegraph

Remy only started last night due to the on-going absence of Diego Costa with the Spaniard struggling to shake off a niggling hamstring problem and Mourinho confirmed he won’t be back to face United this weekend.

When asked if Costa would return, the Portuguese coach said:

“No. It’s Drogba or another one. I don’t like to speak about injured players.

With both Remy and Costa ruled out, it means Didier Drogba is Chelsea’s only fit senior striker and the 36-year-old is likely to lead the line on Sunday. However, the Ivorian has only just returned from a three week absence due to an ankle injury and Mourinho admitted he had only planned to play the striker for about 30 minutes last night.

“I was not expecting Didier to play 75 minutes. I spoke with him on Monday and we spoke about 30 minutes. Circumstances meant he had to go on.”

“He was comfortable to play 75 minutes. It was very, very important for Didier. The best thing for a player to improve his condition is to play, so it is very good.”

Dominic Solanke was handed his senior debut last night and the 17-year-old is expected to be on the bench for the trip to Old Trafford unless Remy or Costa make a miraculous recovery over the next few days.

Andre Schurrle, Ramires and John Obi Mikel will all need to be assessed later this week ahead of the United clash after missing last night’s win over Maribor through injury and illness.

Chelsea go into the game sitting five points clear at the top of the Premier League and a full 10 points ahead of sixth-placed United, so victory on Sunday would be another big step towards the title for Mourinho’s men.