Chelsea are heading into an anxious period as they await clarity on a possible hamstring injury to Marc Cucurella after the loss to Aston Villa.
Unai Emery’s side turned the game around through two goals from substitute Ollie Watkins, canceling out Joao Pedro’s opener that had capped a dominant first-half display from Chelsea.
The defeat leaves Chelsea in fifth place, three points behind fourth-place Liverpool and ten points behind third-place Aston Villa in the battle for Champions League qualification.
The left back had to make a substitution signal during Saturday’s 2-1 defeat. He played 69 minutes before making way for Malo Gusto.
Cucurella has been a constant presence for Enzo Maresca this season. He missed just 90 minutes in four Premier League games, becoming the first Chelsea player to surpass 2,000 minutes this season.
Blow
With centre-back Jorrel Hato as the main alternative on the left, much of the workload has fallen on the Spaniard where possible.
However, Cucurella is now due to undergo scans, casting serious doubt on his availability for Tuesday’s meeting with Bournemouth.
Adding to the frustration of the defeat, Maresca later confirmed that Chelsea are now awaiting the results of tests to determine the severity of Cucurella’s possible hamstring injury.
“Because he was complaining about his hamstring,” he told his press conference after the match.
‘We don’t know whether it is an injury or not. He asked for the change.”
Liam Delap and Estevao both returned from injury as substitutes in the second half of the match, but their introductions were not enough to prevent Chelsea from sliding to another home defeat.
Maresca will now hope Cucurella is fit in time for Bournemouth’s visit to Stamford Bridge in the coming days, while also demanding a sharper edge in front of goal than was seen on Saturday evening. Despite dominating the first half against Villa, Chelsea paid the price for missed chances as the visitors staged a comeback after the break.
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