John Terry has some serious injury concerns ahead of the Blues’ game against Liverpool as he was seen on crutches after Chelsea’s 2-2 draw against Swansea at the Liberty Stadium.
Terry crumpled to the floor late on at the Liberty Stadium after rolling his ankle and sought medical attention on the field before leaving the stadium on crutches. The Chelsea captain is now a big doubt for Liverpool’s visit to Stamford Bridge on Friday night.
He looked in significant distress and has since taken to social media to voice his frustration at picking up the ankle problem. The former England skipper posted a video of medical staff applying what appeared to be a gel on his ankle upon the team’s return to London.
Speaking after the match, Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is quoted by the Liverpool Echo as saying: “I don’t know [the extent of the injury]. Tomorrow we will see the situation about his ankle, but he is a warrior. I’m not worried.”
If Chelsea do lose out on Terry for the match against Liverpool, new signing David Luiz would likely replace him in Conte’s starting lineup. The availability of Terry at the back always gives Chelsea a major boost as he is not only rock solid in defence, but is an influential leader on the pitch. His potential absence means that the Chelsea back line could have a tough 90 minutes against an extremely agile and strong Liverpool attack.
David Luiz joined the club on deadline day and it will be a tough match for him in which to make his second debut, particularly in the absence of the talismanic Terry, who is known to martial his troops well.
Gary Cahill himself could miss the match as well as his outburst against referee Andre Marriner might have violated the FA’s code of conduct. That means someone less experienced will be wearing the captain’s armband and a rather depleted defence will be up against a formidable Liverpool attacking line. Chelsea can only hope that Terry’s injury is not serious enough to keep him out of the clash against Jurgen Klopp’s men.
