Denis Zakaria ruled out for four weeks with quad injury

Chelsea not only got three points earlier today, but survived an entire 90 minutes without any new injuries. That alone might be cause for a massive celebration. (Lewis Hall did come off with what looked like cramp but hopefully nothing more.)

Unfortunately, we did get confirmation from manager Graham Potter that Denis Zakaria will be out for about the next month as he deals with the quad injury he picked up in our previous match. Zakaria had become an important part of an otherwise increasingly shaky midfield, so that’s a bit of a concern as we head into the next phase of the season.

“Denis is going to be probably four weeks. It’s the top of his quad and that is a blow for us. Hopefully, he can return sooner.”

-Graham Potter; source: Football.London

Jorginho and Conor Gallagher former the two-man midfield today (with the latter much more advanced) as Mateo Kovačić got some much-needed rest. Those three will have to rotate through and it would sure be great if they found some of the form they’ve lacked for great stretches of this season. The impending return of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who was on the bench as part of the matchday squad for the first time since the world Cup, should help with rotation as well.

Still, the squad has been crying out for a proper midfield solution for the past couple years — especially as N’Golo Kanté’s injuries have piled up — so hopefully the ownership’s free-spending habits (and our supposed long-term, data-driven planning) will extend to that part of the team at some point as well.