Mauricio Pochettino confirmed Christopher Nkunku is likely to make his Chelsea debut during Tuesday’s EFL Cup quarter-final against Newcastle at Stamford Bridge but urged fans not to expect him to instantly solve his team’s problems.
Nkunku, 26, has not played competitively for the club after injuring his knee on the pre-season United States tour, weeks after joining from RB Leipzig for £52million.
Last season’s Bundesliga top scorer with 16 goals, he was named in Pochettino’s squad for the first time for Saturday’s 2-0 win against Sheffield United as the team registered back-to-back Premier League home wins for the first time in over a year.
Despite warming up during the second half, the manager opted not to hand him his debut and admitted he had “one or two per cent doubt” about his readiness.
However, the France international is set to see action for the first time on Tuesday for Pochettino’s side, who despite enjoying 80 per cent possession in the first half against the Blades registered only a single shot on target before finally breaking the deadlock in the 54th minute.
“How I see today (Monday), I can tell you maybe he can play 20 minutes,” said the manager. “How I saw him before Saturday in my mind I had one per cent to two per cent of doubt. That’s why I didn’t want to take a risk.
“I need to be one hundred per cent, then things can happen. But if I have one per cent doubt…?
“It was good for him to feel in the warm-up, being involved with the team. But why take a risk when it was 2-0?
“One per cent in my mind was thinking I don’t know if it’s the right moment.”
Chelsea have scored 28 goals in 17 league games this campaign, nine more than at the same stage last season when they went on to record their lowest tally in almost a century, 38.
Yet those goals have come in inconsistent bursts, with the team failing to net at all in the league during September before recovering to knock in 14 in five games several weeks later.
On Saturday, they subjected fans to a desperately poor first half during which they created barely a single chance.
“(Nkunku has trained) only in the last few weeks, after four or five months he was out,” said Pochettino. “The team has evolved and the situation has changed.
“My worry is to put too much pressure on him, to say ‘now has arrived the guy to make us win every single game, to change everything’. I don’t believe it’s going to be like that.
“He needs time to recover his fitness. Hopefully he’ll play tomorrow and score three goals, then be consistent. But the most important thing is not to put too much pressure on him.
“He still hasn’t made his debut in the Premier League and we know how tough that can be for every player that came from outside of England.”
Leganes 0-3 Real Madrid: Mbappe and Bellingham score as Blancos close on Barcelona
Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham were both on target as Real Madrid moved to within four points of LaLiga leaders Barcelona with a 3-0 win at Leganes.
Federico Valverde also scored for Carlo Ancelotti's side, who still have a game in hand on leaders Barca, who were pegged back in a 2-2 draw with Celta Vigo on Saturday.
Mbappe ended a goal drought of over 400 minutes after being teed up by Vinicius Junior shortly before half-time, moments after Leganes had surrendered possession near the edge of their own area.
Madrid dominated possession throughout the second half and doubled their advantage in the 66th minute, Valverde drilling a low effort home from a free-kick won by Bellingham.
Bellingham later got in on the act with a header on the rebound after substitute Brahim Diaz rattled the crossbar, as Madrid cruised to back-to-back league wins.
Data Debrief: Dirty work pays off for Madrid
Mbappe's opener, scored at a vital time shortly before the interval, set Madrid on their way to victory on Sunday.
Eduardo Camavinga and Bellingham both pressed high to help the visitors recover possession in the build-up, and Madrid have now scored five goals resulting from high turnovers in LaLiga this season – the most of any team across Europe's top five leagues.
This was the first time Ancelotti had faced Leganes in LaLiga, and he has now beaten all 28 different opponents he has come up against in the competition.
Napoli 1-0 Roma: Lukaku downs former club on Ranieri's return
Claudio Ranieri's Roma return was spoilt by Romelu Lukaku, whose goal against his old club sealed a 1-0 win for Napoli.
Ranieri was appointed Roma boss over the international break, with the 73-year-old coming out of retirement to take charge of the club for a third time.
Yet it was ex-Roma striker Lukaku who decided Sunday's contest at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, with his 54th-minute effort sending Antonio Conte's team back to the top of Serie A.
Lukaku was well-placed to convert from Giovanni Di Lorenzo's cutback, bringing up his fifth Serie A goal of the campaign.
Roma, who had just two attempts and managed only 0.07 expected goals (xG) in the first half, woke up after Lukaku's goal, with Artem Dovbyk powering a header off the woodwork from a free-kick minutes later, but the visitors' comeback attempts proved fruitless.
Ranieri's next task is to rally his troops for a Europa League clash with Tottenham on Thursday.
Data Debrief: Ranieri's underwhelming return
There was no sign of an immediate upturn for 12th-place Roma, if they were hoping for a new-coach bounce.
Roma ended the first half with fewer than 70 successful passes (68). It is the first time they have had so few successful passes in the opening half of a league game since 2004-05.
With only three wins to their name in the league, they have won fewer than four matches in their opening 13 Serie A games for the first time since the 1978-79 campaign (also three).
And of course, it had to be Lukaku, who was leading their line last season, that delivered the hammer blow. The Belgium international has been involved in nine goals in Serie A this term (five goals, four assists). Only his former Everton club-mate Ademola Lookman, now a star at Atalanta, has contributed to more goals in the competition (seven goals, four assists).
Amorim believes Man Utd were guilty of overthinking in Ipswich draw
Ruben Amorim believes Manchester United were guilty of overthinking as his Premier League managerial bow ended in a 1-1 draw at Ipswich Town.
The Red Devils made a flying start to the Portuguese's tenure as Marcus Rashford netted in only the second minute at Portman Road.
But Omari Hutchinson's deflected equaliser restored parity and Andre Onana had to make a couple of big saves from Liam Delap to ensure Amorim started with a point.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Amorim said: "I think my players were thinking too much during the game, they were thinking not just with the ball, but, 'where am I supposed to be?'
"It is hard because the team has been together only two days, I think we needed more in the first half with the physicality, because they left us one against one up front so we have to use those moments to feel the opponent.
"I think we lost some balls without pressure and when you start a game like this, you score one goal, then you have to control the ball, you have to control the tempo of the game.
"We cannot do it at the moment but they tried, they really, really tried. I know for some guys it's hard to understand this but they're trying and they really want this."
Amorim conceded that United, who are 12th in the Premier League, need to be better in their game management moving forward.
"I think that is a concern because you can understand you don't need to coach them at this level (how) you have to keep the ball, put the momentum in to put the ball up front," he added.
"At the end of the game, we are around the box with two strikers, Josh (Zirkzee) has to understand he has to go to the box to have the crosses, so we are doing things not in the right moment. That is something we have to address.
"Everyone talks about the 3-4-3 – that is not the problem, but the understanding of the game... we have to improve in this area."
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