Chelsea will be without two players for their Europa League last-32 clash against Malmo FF on Thursday night, as confirmed by head coach Maurizio Sarri.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Marcos Alonso are expected to sit out the game on Thursday after the former picked up an injury while the latter is possibly left out purely for his poor performances lately. Alonso has been dropped by Sarri following his terrible display against Manchester City last weekend. The Blues suffered an embarrassing 6-0 loss to the Citizens and contributing to that historic defeat, was Alonso who looked out of place the entire game.
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There have been calls for him to be dropped by Chelsea fans, and it seems they now have their wish granted.
Against Swedish side Malmo, Sarri insists the Spain international has been left back home for a “rest” and Emerson Palmieri is expected to take up the starting role on the left side of the defense. He also said Loftus-Cheek has yet to fully recover from the back problem and will miss the game.
“Loftus is out with the same problem, his back,” Sarri said. “Maybe it’s not really serious this problem, but at the moment he’s out. I hope for the next week and match in the FA Cup, but it was impossible for tomorrow. I wanted Marcos to rest for the match. No physical problem.”
Maurizio Sarri, Daily Star
Chelsea will play Manchester United in the FA Cup after taking on Malmo.
