Kanté, James, Mount, Pulisic out as Chelsea look to bounce back against Juventus

After a shockingly insipid performance in a 1-0 home defeat to Manchester City in the league, Chelsea will be looking to bounce back with a much better showing and result in the second Champions League group stage game, against Juventus in Turin.

The Old Lady have had a rough start to their season, leaving them in 10th position in the Serie A after 6 games, while injuries to Álvaro Morata and Paulo Dybala have only compounded their issues. However, Thomas Tuchel announced some injury issues of our own with N'Golo Kanté testing positive for COVID-19 while Christian Pulisic and Mason Mount continue to recover from their injuries, rendering the team light in attack. Reece James' ankle injury also appears more serious than before even as Tuchel files it under "pain management".

"Christian, Reece and Mason are out. N’Golo unfortunately tested positive and he needs to quarantine and follow the government protocols. He was not in training today.

It [Reece's ankle] still very painful. It will come down to pain management in the end and how much he can accept. Right now we are looking at a minimum of one more week."

While Juventus have been clearly struggling to replicate their usual domestic form this season, they have managed to steady the ship with back-to-back wins in the Serie A leading up to tomorrow's game. Their 3-0 win in the opening group stage fixture against Malmo also has them at the top of Group H.

As Tuchel underlines, a Cup tournament gives a fresh environment for a team to perform and throws league form out of the window. Look no further than Chelsea of last season as evidence. Juventus, even with their injury list, are a team to be respected due to their history in the competition along with Allegri's pedigree of impressive results in the competition.

Juventus are expected to be up for it and Tuchel's Chelsea will not let any stone unturned to get a new winning streak going.

"They are so experienced and such a big club with so much Champions League experience. They will enjoy the different competition. They have had a bit of a rough start according to their results in Serie A, but they were convincing in the Champions League.

"You never know with players that are missing. The guys who come in want to show they are reliable.

"We play Juventus at Juventus. It’s a no-brainer that demands respect to the quality and tradition of the club. We need to refocus and regroup and face a tough challenge with positive energy and determination to bounce back from our defeat."

- Thomas Tuchel; source: Chelsea FC

Our previous encounter at Turin dates back to 2012, resulting in a comfortable 3-0 win for a Juventus coached by then-future, now former Chelsea manager, Antonio Conte. The Blues will surely be looking to avoid another such result. Time to bounce back!