- Morgan Gibbs-White was handed a late England call-up on Sunday night
- Thomas Tuchel made the decision amid Cole Palmer’s recent fitness concerns
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Morgan Gibbs-White was on Sunday night added to the England squad due to doubts over the fitness of Cole Palmer, who was unable to play for Chelsea yesterday.
There was some surprise that midfielder Gibbs-White, who was brilliant again for Nottingham Forest on Saturday, was omitted from the original squad such has been his form of late — and especially given Jordan Henderson of Ajax made the cut.
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca said Palmer would have a scan on a muscle issue today, with the midfielder unlikely to join up with Thomas Tuchel’s squad.
Palmer picked up the injury in training on Saturday and missed the Blues’ 1-0 defeat by Arsenal yesterday. It was the first league game Palmer had sat out since a 5-0 loss to the Gunners in April last year.
The 22-year-old is set to miss England’s World Cup qualifiers against Albania on Friday and Latvia a week today.
Maresca said: ‘I don’t think (Palmer will be available for England). It’s a muscular problem. He needs a scan and it is planned for Monday.’
Morgan Gibbs-White stepped in late on Sunday to replace Cole Palmer in the England squad
Thomas Tuchel was forced to look the midfielder’s way amid Palmer’s recent fitness concerns
The new Three Lions boss recently chose his first squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers
Chelsea are now sweating over whether their star man, who has 14 goals and six assists in the league this season, will return against Tottenham after the international break.
Maresca also acknowledged that his side are struggling for goals without Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke, who could both be back to face Spurs. ‘It’s a huge difference,’ he added. ‘If you think of the three players with the most goals for us, not one of them was on the pitch today. It’s normal that offensively we can struggle.’
Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta lauded Chelsea as ‘the best attacking team in the league’.
The bizarre claim came after Arsenal beat the Blues via a first-half Mikel Merino header — their first goal from a corner since beating Spurs in January. Three teams — Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester City — have scored more than Chelsea’s 53 league goals this season, with Liverpool having managed 16 more.
Arteta said: ‘In open play, yes (they are the best). By a mile. I mean the stats say it and everything I’ve seen says it. ‘They can open you up, they can run in transition, they have individual quality. It’s my opinion. I have a lot of data which is objective.’
