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Chelsea will have just one full day to prepare for Sunday’s Premier League match against West Ham United after the team’s return from Greece was delayed by bad weather last night.
According to multiple reports, including ESPN and the Daily Mail, Chelsea were forced to stay an extra night in Thessaloniki thanks to weather warnings that forced the cancellation of the scheduled charter flight home. The team will now only return on Friday afternoon after original plans called for them to be back in the early hours of Friday morning.
Sarri won't be happy - Chelsea's return from Greece has been delayed. Scheduled flight last night cancelled after weather warnings. They'll be back later today, but even less recovery time... #cfc
— Liam Twomey (@liam_twomey) September 21, 2018
The Premier League schedule waits for no flight however. Chelsea take on West Ham United in Sunday’s late lunch kick-off, which leaves basically just Saturday to prepare. Sarri had already lamented the fact that this game is on Sunday rather than Monday (although Chelsea also play a League Cup game on Wednesday).
Fortunately, the head coach rotated half his team for Thursday’s match (including Giroud and Azpilicueta) and was able to give Jorginho and Marcos Alonso a bit of a rest as well with early substitutions. Perhaps even more importantly, Eden Hazard did not even travel, so he should be as fresh as a daisy for the trip across London.
Still, the delay is hardly ideal amid the busy fixture list, and just adds another concern alongside Pedro’s and Kovačić's injuries.