Antonio Conte has spoken to the press ahead of Chelsea’s 15th Premier League fixture of the season, and says that the Brazilian centre-back David Luiz is still recovering from Sergio Agüero’s ugly tackle that got the Manchester City forward sent off last Saturday, when the Blues cruised into a table-topping 1-3 away victory past the Citizens.
The star defender limped off from the stadium with his knee bagged in ice after the game, and Antonio Conte claims he didn’t realize the seriousness of the tackle before seeing the replays from the television afterwards.
Only after I saw the replays, that’s when I saw this was a very dangerous challenge for David Luiz. I have to check on Saturday if David Luiz is able to play on Sunday because, after this tackle … this tackle was very bad.
So I have to check on his recovery from his injury. It will be very important tomorrow for him and for me to decide whether he’s able to play on Sunday. That tackle was dangerous, for sure. I watched the images and I was afraid [he might be injured]. I was scared. He’s trying to recover from this tackle.
– Antonio Conte, Guardian
Should Luiz miss tomorrow’s game against West Bromwich Albion at Stamford Bridge, it’s likely that Branislav Ivanovic will step in to replace him, as captain John Terry and the 22-year-old centre-half Kurt Zouma are still unfit for first-team action.
Oscar is set to miss Sunday’s early kick-off due to illness, while Nemanja Matic returns from his muscular injury that ruled him out of the Man City clash.
