Thomas Tuchel has revealed that Andreas Christensen was withdrawn at halftime with an injury during their defeat to Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues fell to a difficult loss to Mikel Arteta’s side, who came into the game having lost their last three games on the bounce, thanks to a brace from Eddie Nketiah as well as goals from Emile Smith-Rowe and Bukayo Saka.
And it was Christensen who handed the Gunners their early impetus, with a woeful backpass allowing Eddie Nketiah to steal in for his first of the game.
The defender, who struggled in the first half, was removed at half time, and Tuchel was quick to suggest that it was an injury rather than as a result of his sub-par performance.
Tuchel says Christensen was subbed off for injury and stayed in for treatment. He goes on to blame the pitch for his mistake, covering him fully, saying the home pitch is a problem in general for Chelsea. “It’s a very, very difficult pitch here. It’s not to our favour.” #CFC
— Nizaar Kinsella (@NizaarKinsella) April 20, 2022
It was this issue that saw him fail to come out to the bench for the second half either, instead staying in the dressing room for treatment.
Chelsea see records tumble
In falling to the Gunners, Chelsea have set a pair of unwanted records in the process of falling to a 4-2 defeat to Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.
They lost their third straight home game for the first time since 1993-94, while it also meant that they have conceded 4 goals in back to back home league games for the first time since the 89-90 season, before the Premier League’s inception.
3 & 4 – Chelsea have lost three straight league games at home for the first time since 1993-94, whilst they’ve shipped 4+ goals in back-to-back league games at Stamford Bridge for the first time since 1989-90. Throwbacks. pic.twitter.com/DMpPMK0iyU
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 20, 2022
In many ways, the performance and result were somewhat expected by the Blues. The Blues are comfortable in third place in the Premier League, not endangering the runaway pair of Manchester City and Liverpool above them nor too much at risk of being dragged into a battle for European football, with a five-point cushion on the sides below them.
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Premier League table
| # | Team | MP | D | P |
| 1 | Liverpool FC | 32 | 61 | 76 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 31 | 52 | 74 |
| 3 | Chelsea FC | 30 | 41 | 62 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 32 | 18 | 57 |
| 5 | Arsenal FC | 31 | 8 | 54 |
| 6 | Manchester United | 33 | 4 | 54 |
| 7 | West Ham United | 33 | 9 | 52 |
| 8 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 32 | 5 | 49 |
| 9 | Leicester City | 30 | -4 | 40 |
| 10 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 32 | -8 | 40 |
| 11 | Brentford FC | 33 | -8 | 39 |
| 12 | Southampton FC | 32 | -14 | 39 |
| 13 | Crystal Palace | 31 | 3 | 37 |
| 14 | Newcastle United | 32 | -19 | 37 |
| 15 | Aston Villa | 31 | -4 | 36 |
| 16 | Leeds United | 32 | -30 | 33 |
| 17 | Everton FC | 30 | -19 | 28 |
| 18 | Burnley FC | 31 | -19 | 25 |
| 19 | Watford FC | 32 | -32 | 22 |
| 20 | Norwich City | 32 | -44 | 21 |
| Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 22 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur | 17 |
| Ronaldo, Cristiano | Manchester United | 15 |
| Jota, Diogo | Liverpool FC | 15 |
| Mane, Sadio | Liverpool FC | 14 |
| Kane, Harry | Tottenham Hotspur | 12 |
| Toney, Ivan | Brentford FC | 12 |
| Mahrez, Riyad | Manchester City | 11 |
| De Bruyne, Kevin | Manchester City | 11 |
| Zaha, Wilfried | Crystal Palace | 11 |
| Mount, Mason | Chelsea FC | 10 |
| Dennis, Emmanuel | Watford FC | 10 |
| Saka, Bukayo | Arsenal FC | 10 |
| Pukki, Teemu | Norwich City | 10 |
| Sterling, Raheem | Manchester City | 10 |
| Raphinha | Leeds United | 10 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City | 10 |
| Smith-Rowe, Emile | Arsenal FC | 10 |
| Bowen, Jarrod | West Ham United | 9 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United | 9 |
| Player | Team | Red Cards | Yellow Cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bissouma, Yves | Brighton & Hove Albion | 0 | 10 |
| Gallagher, Conor | Crystal Palace | 0 | 9 |
| Neves, Ruben | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 0 | 9 |
| Mings, Tyrone | Aston Villa | 0 | 9 |
| Brownhill, Josh | Burnley FC | 0 | 9 |
| Mctominay, Scott | Manchester United | 0 | 9 |
| Firpo, Junior | Leeds United | 0 | 9 |
| Salisu, Mohammed | Southampton FC | 0 | 8 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United | 0 | 8 |
| Dennis, Emmanuel | Watford FC | 0 | 7 |
| Pogba, Paul | Manchester United | 1 | 7 |
| Moreno, Rodrigo | Leeds United | 0 | 8 |
| Cash, Matty | Aston Villa | 0 | 8 |
| McGinn, John | Aston Villa | 0 | 8 |
| Rice, Declan | West Ham United | 0 | 8 |
| Bednarek, Jan | Southampton FC | 0 | 8 |
| Tarkowski, James | Burnley FC | 0 | 8 |
| Shaw, Luke | Manchester United | 0 | 8 |
| Romeu, Oriol | Southampton FC | 0 | 8 |
| Xhaka, Granit | Arsenal FC | 1 | 7 |
| Player | Team | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 12 |
| Alexander-Arnold, Trent | Liverpool FC | 12 |
| Robertson, Andy | Liverpool FC | 10 |
| Kane, Harry | Tottenham Hotspur | 9 |
| Mount, Mason | Chelsea FC | 9 |
| Pogba, Paul | Manchester United | 9 |
| Bowen, Jarrod | West Ham United | 8 |
| Lacazette, Alexandre | Arsenal FC | 7 |
| Barnes, Harvey | Leicester City | 7 |
| Mbeumo, Bryan | Brentford FC | 7 |
| Jesus, Gabriel | Manchester City | 7 |
| Cancelo, Joao | Manchester City | 7 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur | 6 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United | 6 |
| Antonio, Michail | West Ham United | 6 |
| Maddison, James | Leicester City | 6 |
| Benrahma, Said | West Ham United | 6 |
| James, Reece | Chelsea FC | 6 |
| Kulusevski, Dejan | Tottenham Hotspur | 6 |
| Mahrez, Riyad | Manchester City | 5 |
