📣 Tuchel on injury latest, Ballon d'Or, Newcastle takeover | OneFootball

The international break is over and Premier League leaders Chelsea will be back in action with a trip to Brentford this weekend.

Here’s what head coach Thomas Tuchel had to say about the match …

On injury latest

“Thiago will be back in the afternoon tomorrow, hopefully safe from his match in Brazil. We had our talk and tactical training, he missed all that. He played 90 minutes and had 12 hours of travelling so that gives you the answer.

“Toni Rüdiger is injured, came back injured from the national team. Christian Pulisic is still injured. We also have doubts with Hakim Ziyech who has missed the last couple of sessions with a headache.

“Romelu is fine and will be involved tomorrow.

On concerns about where Newcastle’s money comes from

“I think it’s normal people have concerns. We trust the Premier League, they have accepted and they are the authorities. They have allowed it and Newcastle have new owners.

“The new owners seem to be promising for a famous club in England and it seems we have a new competitor for titles and places in the top ranking.

“We play in the toughest league and it always seems to get tougher.”

On difficulties preparing for games

“We need to be able to produce results consistently and this is always difficult after travelling and games to different teams, countries and style of play. It’s always a challenge to restart the engine and the momentum. We can call it mentality or whatever, it’s not so easy but on the other hand we are used to it.

“It will not be easy tomorrow and it’s a good first step that we arrive with that expectation. We face a tough opponent at a difficult moment because they are in a good moment and deserve their points.

“This is what we have to face and we have to face it with only two training sessions. This is the challenge and we will see how good we are.”

On Chelsea having five Ballon d’Or nominees

“Do you believe me if I say I don’t know the players on the list?

“This is a team effort and what we did last season was a team effort. We were more than single players, we were a team, a group of friends, a strong club. That gave us the possibility to reach a final and win it.”

On the international break

“This international break was a little better for us in terms of minutes and management of players. We had the chance to give some players two days off so this one felt a bit better at least than the last one. But the next one is on the horizon.”

On Brentford

“They will be up for it and play with a lot of enthusiasm and finally Chelsea comes not for a cup game or friendly game. They have so many points on their side and such good results, they are doing a fantastic job. They will play with courage, confidence, but we can’t be surprised. We know this and it will be on us to adapt and accept the situation.

“They will not gift us a single inch on the field and we have to be ready mentally, physically and tactically. This is not a match about knowing the solutions or trying to out-skill the opponent. We have to match the mentality and attitude. This is what we did against Southampton.”

On the upcoming fixtures

“We want to prove seven times that we deserve to be the favourites and we need a certain mentality to do so. If favourite means things will be easy we can’t be more wrong. If being the favourite means we still expect a tough one then that is what we have to expect. We have to take risks, play with a certain freedom, as with a fear of losing you can win nothing.

“If you work for Chelsea, you play to win. So you can’t be surprised if you’re the favourites. Does this change our expectation hopefully not.”