Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has revealed an infected wisdom tooth was the reason behind Mason Mount's recent absence as the midfielder eyes a return against Burnley.
Mount missed the last two matches, which came against Newcastle United in the Premier League and Malmo in the Champions League, through illness.
Tuchel has elaborated on what caused the problem and also discussed the England call-up Mount received despite his recent absence from the league leaders' team.
"It's a tricky one," Tuchel said when he was asked about Mount ahead of Saturday's home top-flight clash with Burnley on Saturday.
"Mason was ill but the reason was his wisdom tooth, this was the reason for the feeling [unwell], a bit of an infection.
"Then he was back in training and lost a bit of weight as he couldn't eat properly. He takes medication and let's see.
"He is in the squad for Saturday and can play some minutes, but we will need to wait for the reaction because it seems proper treatment has to be done."
Mount, who scored a hat-trick against Norwich City the last time he started a match on October 23, could join up with England at some stage in the international break.
But Tuchel was not sure whether it would be from the start or even at all, with matches against Albania and San Marino coming up in World Cup qualifying.
"If everything is okay [then he will join up], but we need a proper treatment, so it can be that he is out or he joins a bit later," added the German.
"We will always push and encourage him. We are proud when he is selected, he is proud.
"So there is nothing going on behind closed doors to keep Mason here. There is something going on we need to take care about."
After 10 matches, Chelsea lead Liverpool by three points at the top of the table.
They face Burnley having won their last four Premier League games against them, scoring 12 and conceding twice in that run, but Tuchel is not expecting an easy ride.
Marcos Alonso has been added to the Chelsea injury list, while forwards Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner remain out along with midfielder Mateo Kovacic.
Tuchel said: "Marcos injured himself in the very last minute of the Malmo match.
"He tried to come out for training but the stress is too high on the ankle. Nothing big but too painful at the moment.
"We know exactly what we'll get from Burnley, they have a clear identity, a manager that has been in charge many years. It will be a tough one."
Asked when Lukaku could return, Tuchel said: "We have the international break now and then we will be more clear. We will see what is going on during the second week of the international break."
And his stance on the football calendar was clear amid debate over the likes of Mount and Callum Hudson-Odoi, who has rejected a call-up for England's Under-21 team.
"There are too many international windows, too many competitions, too many games for the top players," he said. "That increases quantity and not quality. It's too much, simple as that."
Chelsea have scored 16 goals in their opening five home Premier League games this season (W4 L1), their joint-most at this stage of a Premier League season.
The Burnley clash will be the 30th league game for Tuchel at Chelsea and he has racked up 18 clean sheets over the course of his first 29.
Jose Mourinho is the only Premier League manager to keep more than 18 in his first 30 games in charge in the competition (22).
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
