Chelsea suffer a huge blow ahead of their midweek Premier League match against Liverpool, with both Diego Costa and Branislav Ivanovic ruled out for the game.
Ivanovic had hopped off on the 68th minute of Chelsea’s weekend match against Sunderland, which the Blues lost 3-2. Hiddink confirmed ahead of the match that Ivanovic has been ruled out of the Liverpool game with a groin injury, while Costa is suffering from a hamstring problem.
“Ivanovic is out with a groin injury, Costa has a hamstring [injury] and is out,” Hiddink was quoted as saying in ESPN.
To add to the Blues’ miseries, winger Pedro Rodriguez is also doubtful for the match after the Spaniard broke his nose in an off-field incident. The Spain international has flown to Milan to have a surgery.
“Pedro is not out but he has not trained. He had a broken nose at home. He had a little accident. Costa is out probably for the weekend [against Leicester],” said Hiddink.
Centre-back John Terry will also not feature in the game after being sent off in the Sunderland game. The Chelsea captain will miss what looks like his last two matches at a club where he has spent close to two decades now.
Terry has not traveled to Liverpool with the Chelsea squad but Hiddink was all praise for his captain, saying the former England international is still training hard despite the fact he may not play another game for the club again.
“He [Terry] likes to train,” said Hiddink. “Even if this sanction [ban] was not there and he would have stopped, players want to go on. The body says that at certain moments: ‘Come on, get on the ball, get moving.’
Can Chelsea defend their record at Anfield?
Chelsea have mostly done well against Liverpool in the last decade or so. In fact, the Blues have not lost a single match at Anfield in the last four years.
However, Chelsea’s record at the Merseyside stadium might be under some serious threat this time round. The Blues are severely out of form, struggling to keep themselves in the top half of the table. While Liverpool themselves are not too far from Chelsea, the Reds have shown a lot of promise under Jurgen Klopp, making it to two cup finals in his first season at the club.
With Liverpool on a high after reaching the Europa League final, the Reds will be looking to demolish a lackluster Chelsea side and break the four year jinx.
