Chelsea lose important player to worrying injury at worst time – but new squad man shines in his absence | OneFootball

The team news for Chelsea’s game against Palmeiras tonight had a few surprises, but nothing too crazy.

However if you saw the game kick off but hadn’t heard the news, you would have been surprised to see Andrey Santos starting. The number 17 was not in the original lineup for the Blues, but stepped in at the last minute after an injury in the warmup to Reece James, who was himself filling in in the middle for the suspended Moises Caicedo and the injured Romeo Lavia.

James’ injury worrying – with no new updates yet

Ben Jacobs’ Tweet about Andrey Santos and Reece James’ injury.

There’s no word yet on how bad James’ injury is. But given his record, we’re naturally worried. We will likely have to wait until full time to hear more from Enzo Maresca, and even then he may not have much detailed information for us.

Fingers crossed that all is well. Things are going so well for us, and we’re just 45 minutes from the semi final. Losing James even for one game would be a real shame. God forbid it’s anything worse.

Andrey Santos steps up to the plate for dominant Chelsea

With new injuries come new opportunities, and Santos has had a good game so far. He’s completed 96% of his passes, makes two tackles plus an interception and a clearance. Playing at the base of midfield, he’s doing just what Caicedo would do, dominating the space and allowing Enzo Fernandez to flit between the lines ahead of him creating chances.

Fans have been disappointed by the minutes afforded to Santos by Enzo Maresca so far, so this is a solid vote of confidence. It’s likely a tactical call as much as anything, but it’s interesting that Dario Essugo, a more natural destroyer, has been left out in this case.