Thomas Tuchel on team news: No news maybe good news as Trevoh, Ben, Reece are out. Kenedy is back. It's a huge opportunity to make his mark on this team. We can't say that Kenedy is the solution. He [Ruben Loftus-Cheek] has a lot of game time if you look at this season. He's a lot to fight for here. This will happen behind closed doors about bringing players back. We send them to go on loan for a full season."
Thomas Tuchel on Manchester City:
"They are the benchmark, they are the best team in England right now. This is something we have to admit realistically. They are very strong, consistent and perform on the highest level. They did not suffer from Covid like we did. This is the huge difference. We had some draws that were unnecessary. If you have a full squad, you create a certain atmosphere to push. Maybe, who knows [defeat ends title hopes]. The biggest difference is they dealt better with injuries and Covid. Maybe it's unlucky, whatever, but they have less injuries to key players. They are on a level of consistency, quality, producing results even when it's getting close. They are very strong, it's going to be a tough one. I strongly, strongly hope that's not the case [games called off for injuries and AFCON]. Otherwise I will be very angry. We are doing everything to make games happen. We were made to play when we thought not. I can only hope the rules are for everybody. This creates the energy, atmosphere and extra level if you want to compete. This is not an excuse, it's an explanation of where we will find ourselves. We will come up with a plan, push, help and support in the best way with genuine belief. It's a different team when everyone is available. They opened the gap, not over the last month but years. I was never shy to say this. We try to close it, we were self-confident enough to say we will try. I want to be very clear, I will be absolutely happy with the players we travel with tomorrow.
Thomas Tuchel on defeat to Man City earlier this season:
My approach was too passive. Lesson learned. They were too aggressive. We did not have a solution to escape. We have trust in what we do, in our players, in the mentality of our club that we can do it. We have a strong squad, belief in what we do. We will be there."
We need to over-perform to catch City and be top of Man City. To over-perform, you need everybody. "I don't expect nothing special tomorrow, it's a league game not a knockout. I'm expecting nothing new, just the best of City." Thomas Tuchel has confirmed Chelsea will be without Andreas Christensen against Manchester City after he tested positive for Covid-19.
