N’Golo Kante ‘will MISS Chelsea’s crunch Champions League clash with Juventus and Premier League game against Southampton’ because of illness
- Chelsea play Juventus at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday in Champions League
- N’Golo Kante will miss the game through illness in blow for the Blues
- He featured in defeat by Manchester City at the weekend before being subbed
N’Golo Kante is set to miss Chelsea’s Champions League showdown with Juventus on Wednesday night through illness.
The diminutive midfielder has been a mainstay in the side when fit and remains an important player under Thomas Tuchel but the manager will have to do without him.
Having shaken off a groin problem, the World Cup winner has been trying to reach his best form again but illness will delay those ambitions, according to Goal.
N’Golo Kante will miss Chelsea’s next two matches through illness in the coming week
That injury kept him out of the first three games of the season but he was gathering full match sharpness and scored in the 3-0 win over Tottenham.
He is also expected to miss Saturday’s Premier League clash with Southampton.
The 30-year-old’s specific illness is not yet known but Tuchel will shuffle the pack in his absence with Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Saul Niguez and Trevoh Chalobah all options at his disposal.
Though losing Kante is a blow, Tuchel’s men are in better shape than Juventus ahead of the big game.
Thomas Tuchel will have to shuffle the pack but has plenty of options in midfield
Kante had been returning to form and scored this deflected effort against Tottenham
Massimiliano Allegri’s men are without Paulo Dybala and Alvaro Morata, who have both been ruled out through injury.
A club statement read: ‘Diagnostic tests were carried out at J Medical. The results showed for Alvaro Morata a low-grade muscle injury of the hamstring in the right thigh.
‘For Paulo Dybala, an elongation of the semitendinosus muscle in the left thigh. Both will be available after the international break.’
Both Chelsea and Juve won their opening Group H encounters, with the Champions League holders defeating Zenit St Petersburg 1-0 courtesy of Romelu Lukaku, while Dybala and Morata scored on the cusp of half-time as the Italian giants defeated Malmo 3-0 in Sweden.
Kante started the game against Manchester City but was substituted later on