Thomas Tuchel confirms Chelsea's Mateo Kovačić has Covid | OneFootball

Thomas Tuchel has revealed that Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovačić has tested positive for Covid-19 and must now self-isolate.

The Croatian midfielder is one of five Blues players who will not travel for the Champions League game against Zenit St Petersburg.

“Ben Chilwell is out, N’Golo Kanté is out, Trevoh Chalobah is out, Mateo Kovačić is out, and Jorginho is out,” Tuchel told reporters in his pre-match press conference.

Chelsea have already qualified for the knockout phase of the Champions League and will be hoping to solidify their place at the top of Group H in Russia.

But a bigger concern for Tuchel is how many fit players he will have for Saturday’s crunch Premier League clash away at Leeds.

“We had a bit of an acute overload due to injuries and the schedule,” he added.

“Due to our injuries in some position, like central midfield, when we struggle. The game tomorrow is not the problem, it’s more the game that comes up on the Saturday.

“We had an early game against West Ham and then a late game against Zenit. We had a day off and good training session today. We can let anybody play of the 17 players plus goalkeepers we have.

“The problem is the next match on Saturday because we will lose time to sleep, arrive back very early on Thursday, and then we face an intense team in Leeds who have prepared to face this match.”