/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/49334151/GettyImages-517090276.0.jpg)
There's a decent bit of curious silence around Oscar's absence from yesterday's match. Here's a player who had made an appearance in 31 of the previous 32 games for Chelsea, yet no one seemed to care too much that he was not in the matchday squad. (And I mean care in a positive sense.) Hiddink, as far as I can tell, was never asked about it nor did he volunteer any news, and there's also no mention on either the club's official website or Twitter. There are at least three mentions of Carabao's bucking bronco; there are zero mentions of our third leading goalscorer.
Chelsea fan, author, and ESPN blogger Mark Worrall did spot Oscar leaving the ground ahead of the game, the phrasing of his tweet certainly leaving plenty of room for speculation, especially after a week that had seen multiple reports of Chelsea gearing up to sell the 24-year-old.
Interesting to see Oscar driving past the cfcuk stall heading away from the Bridge. Not involved in today's game..
— Mark Worrall (@gate17marco) April 16, 2016
While I did not personally see or hear this, apparently Chelsea TV did mention that Oscar fell ill. There are only a few scattered tweets and comments left as evidence about this, but given the echoing silence otherwise, we can probably assume that they're not making up stuff.
Reports from Chelsea TV is that Oscar is ill.
— HeavenlyBlue (@heavenlyblue007) April 16, 2016
Hopefully we'll hear official confirmation of this later in the week as we get set to travel to Bournemouth. There's enough speculation and uncertainty around the squad as it is; no need to add any more to that!