Tammy Abraham is “expected to be available” for Saturday’s massive clash at Stamford Bridge against Tottenham Hotspur. The 22-year-old managed to rejoin and come through full training this week, reports The Times a few hours ahead of Frank Lampard’s pre-match press conference.
Lampard will presumably confirm or deny the strength of this reporting, though Abraham was already expected to feature on Monday before “further discomfort” caused a rethink to the starting lineup. Chelsea’s leading goalscorer had injured himself in the 2-2 draw against Arsenal but still toughed it out against Leicester City while clearly not 100 per cent before the winter break. Unfortunately the break was not enough to get him recovered enough; hopefully now he is indeed good to go — and if he’s not, hopefully it’s Olivier Giroud who gets the nod; sorry, Michy!
In further good news, Andreas Christensen should be ready to go as well after a quick trip to Italy in midweek to get a protective mask fitted for the broken nose he suffered just before Manchester United’s opening goal on Monday. That report is an “exclusive” from The Athletic, though whether Christensen should be picked to play with a broken nose making him even more timid than usual in the air (mask or no mask) is another question.
#Christensen was prepared to play on with a broken nose for #CFC against #MUFC on Monday night but bleeding was too severe. Now he will be wearing a mask to protect him in games. Full story here: https://t.co/Z4YWfSxf8U
— Simon Johnson (@SJohnsonSport) February 20, 2020