Willian and Mateo Kovacic have both suffered Achilles injuries in Chelsea’s 2-0 FA Cup win over Liverpool on Tuesday, Blues manager Frank Lampard has said. According to the manager, both players limped out of the game and have suffered similar issues.
Kovacic was the first to be injured before the end of the first time when he appeared to be tripped slightly by Liverpool youngster Neco Williams before Sadio Mane stood on his foot as the pair attempted to win the ball from him.
The midfielder tried to shake off the injury, then continue playing but went down again and was replaced by Mason Mount. Willian also went down in the 50th minute after scoring the first goal of the evening when Liverpool goalkeeper Adrian spilled his shot from range.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Lampard said: “Both have got an Achilles issue,” Lampard confirmed after the game.
“Willian hopefully is not too bad, that is what he is reporting there so we will see how he is tomorrow. Kovacic’s feels slightly worse. Hopefully not too drastic, so we’ll see.”
Willian has not really had a good outing this season and has been linked with a move to Barcelona. The Brazilian has expressed his desire to stay with his contract set to expire at the end of the month. He scored his sixth goal of the season and recorded five assists in all competitions on Wednesday.
Losing Kovacic would serve as a major blow for Lampard and his absence will be deeply missed in the Chelsea midfield. The former Real Madrid, who was signed by Maurizio Sarri, has been superb this season after enduring a difficult first season at Chelsea.
Kovacic has been consistent for Lampard’s side this season, missing just four games in all competitions, two of which came through a yellow card suspension. Chelsea is already without Jorginho for the coming games.
Jorginho will miss his side’s next two Premier League matches against Everton and Aston Villa after collecting his 10th top-flight yellow card of the season in the 2-2 draw at Bournemouth on Saturday.
He is also unavailable for the second leg of Chelsea’s Champions League last-16 tie against Bayern Munich at Allianz Arena on March 18 after accruing his third European caution of 2019-20 in the 3-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge last week.
Lampard is already contending with a lengthy injury list with Tammy Abraham, Christian Pulisic, Callum Hudson-Odoi and N’Golo Kante all unavailable last night.
