Chelsea’s Chilwell has ‘partial’ ACL injury

Ben Chilwell will be out for at least six weeks – and possibly much longer – with a knee injury, Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has confirmed.

The England international was helped from the pitch during the second half of Tuesday’s thrashing of Juventus in the Champions League.

It led to fears that Chilwell had suffered damage to his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) – an injury which typically sidelines players for between six and 12 months.

Tuchel on Friday described the problem as a “partial injury of his ACL” and said Chilwell’s condition is due to be assessed in six weeks, by which time he will have recovered or require surgery.

Meanwhile, N’Golo Kante, who went off in the first half of the Juventus match, will almost certainly miss Sunday’s game against Manchester United as he is expected to be unavailable for around a week.

Mateo Kovacic is still out with a hamstring problem.

And Romelu Lukaku, who recently returned to training after an ankle injury, is again expected to be on the bench for the visit of his former club.

“Ben is out. He has a partial injury of his ACL,” Tuchel said.

“The decision is to treat it conservatively and the next six weeks will tell the story.

“If he makes it, he will be fully available hopefully after the six weeks, or he needs the surgery.”

Pushed on whether Chilwell could face a minimum of six months rather than weeks out, Tuchel was reluctant to speculate.

However, the German did indicate that Chilwell’s response to his treatment so far is a positive sign.

“Maybe in six weeks everything is fine,” Tuchel said.

“This is the best case. Then there is a worst case and maybe there are shades of grey in between.

“It does not help if we start speaking about worst-case scenarios, because there is also a best-case scenario. The next weeks will give the direction.

“Now I only care about the first six weeks. We are very positive because the first reaction of his body is very positive, so hopefully it stays like this.

“Now the full focus from everybody is towards the next six weeks and bringing him back to the pitch. That is the decision after all the medical examinations and it is a very responsible decision.

“There is no rush and no pressure. This is the reasonable way to do it.

“This for him personally is a very bad moment. He was so good and full of confidence. He had a huge part in our victories and performances over the last weeks.

“It’s a shame. We are very sad. But actually at the moment he is very positive because his body reacted very well to the first treatments.”

Kante has a knee problem of his own, albeit a less serious one.

As for Lukaku, Tuchel indicated that the Belgian would like to start Sunday’s game but is unlikely to do so.

“N’Golo twisted his knee a little bit,” Tuchel explained.

“It feels quite better since the game but it seems like he will be out for some days – it’s a matter of days. One week maybe.

“We still have a little bit of hope (for the United game) but it would be almost a miracle if he makes it, so we think it will be a week or so.

“Romelu is in training. If you ask the player he will say ‘Yes I can start for sure’.

“But there is a difference between being ready for training and ready for games. The possibility that he starts is not very high.”