Thomas Tuchel insists there are "zero problems" between himself and Christian Pulisic after the player's father tweeted about his recent lack of playing time.
United States star Pulisic featured as a substitute in the Blues' frustrating 1-0 Premier League defeat to Everton last Sunday, and though the former Borussia Dortmund man has made 34 appearances for Chelsea this season, only half have been starts.
In a since-deleted tweet, Pulisic's father Mark lamented the "sad" situation the 23-year-old found himself in, sparking rumours of an exit for the attacker by saying there was a "big six months ahead".
Speaking ahead of Chelsea's home encounter with Wolves on Saturday, Tuchel brushed off suggestions that Pulisic was unhappy in west London.
"I'm not concerned if a father says a player loves me or not. I am not concerned about that, for sure," he said. "It's a normal thing.
"Every manager, we have our reasons to choose a line-up and have our reasons to go for players in the first 11. You will never see, in this kind of level of competition, happy faces from players that are not selected.
"Between Christian and me, there exists zero problems. He had a fantastic training week so far, he has a huge impact from the bench in some matches.
"I didn't even know [about] it [the tweet]. I don't want to get affected by it in my judgement, it has nothing to do with it.
"The players, in the end, are responsible to be and stay in the team. I will do my best to do the right judgement. Am I always right? For sure not. Is it always fair? For sure not.
"This is what you sign up for in a club like Chelsea. I haven't experienced the same reaction from Christian lately, it was actually the opposite – very strong, very positive in the last weeks."
After playing 1,866 minutes this season, Pulisic will be hoping to feature against Wolves as he looks to play his way into Tuchel's team for the FA Cup final against Liverpool on May 14, having scored in the Blues' 2-1 final defeat to Arsenal in 2020.
Chelsea have lost three of their last six Premier League matches (two wins, one draw), as many losses as they suffered in their first 28 league outings this season (17 wins, eight draws), and only 44 per cent of the Blues' Premier League points have come at home this campaign (29/66).
Only Watford (32 per cent) and Brighton and Hove Albion (36 per cent) have won a lower share of their points on their own grounds in the Premier League this season, although Chelsea are unbeaten in their last eight home league games against Wolves (three draws, five losses), last losing to the midlands outfit at Stamford Bridge in March 1979.
Juventus 2-0 Torino: Weah and Yildiz lift Bianconeri to third after Derby della Mole victory
Juventus climbed to third place in Serie A following a 2-0 victory over rivals Torino at the Allianz Stadium.
A goal in either half from Timothy Weah and Kenan Yildiz settled the Derby della Mole, and saw Thiago Motta's side extend their unbeaten start to the league season.
The Bianconeri broke through in the 18th minute when Vanja Milinkovic-Savic spilt a shot straight to Weah, who made no mistake from close range.
Weah thought he had doubled the lead in the 72nd minute, but the USA international was penalised for handball in the build-up to the opportunity.
However, Juve did put the contest to bed six minutes from time, when Yildiz nodded in Francisco Conceicao's deep cross at the far post.
Extending their unbeaten streak against Torino to 18 matches, Motta's side moved to within a point of Serie A leaders Napoli.
Data Debrief: Bianconeri extend unbeaten start with yet another clean sheet
Juventus have now registered nine clean sheets in Serie A this season, the most by any team in the big five European leagues.
Weah got the ball rolling, as he became the second American after Weston McKennie in December 2020 to score for the Bianconeri against Torino in Serie A.
Yildiz then sealed the victory. The 19-year-old became the third-youngest Juventus player to find the net in the Derby della Mole, after Felice Placido Borel (18 years and 243 days in 1932) and Bruno Nicole (18 years and 244 days in 1958).
Meanwhile, Torino have now suffered three successive defeats without scoring in Serie A for the first time since 2014.
Crystal Palace 0-2 Fulham: Smith Rowe and Wilson send Silva's side up to sixth
Emile Smith Rowe and Harry Wilson were on target in either half as Fulham triumphed 2-0 over 10-man Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
Smith Rowe broke the deadlock in first-half stoppage time, taking Raul Jimenez's pass into his stride before finishing past Dean Henderson.
Fulham forward Smith Rowe had another goal ruled out in the second half for offside, before Daichi Kamada's 76th-minute red card for a poor challenge on Kenny Tete made matters worse for the hosts.
Wilson, the two-goal hero against Brentford on Monday, made sure of all three points with seven minutes remaining, latching onto Alex Iwobi's superb throughball and slotting home.
The Wales international saw another late strike overturned for handball, but another London derby victory moved Marco Silva's side up to sixth place and saw them join a cluster of sides on 18 points.
Meanwhile, Palace's sixth league defeat of the season leaves them 17th and just a point clear of the relegation zone heading into the international break.
Data Debrief: Cottagers extend streak as super sub Wilson strikes again
Fulham have now kept a clean sheet in each of their last four away league games against Palace, not going longer without conceding against a single opponent on the road.
Now unbeaten in seven Premier League London derbies, the Cottagers are now on their joint-longest run without defeat in such matches.
Wilson sealed the victory with his third goal as a substitute in the space of a week. Only Collins John (four) has netted more times as a substitute for Fulham in a single season than the Wales international.
A difficult day for Palace was worsened by Kamada's dismissal. Three of the Eagles' last six Premier League red cards have come against the Cottagers, against no other side have they seen more.
Al-Riyadh 0-1 Al-Nassr: Mane hands visitors bragging rights
Sadio Mane's first-half strike ensured Al-Nassr maintained their unbeaten start to the Saudi Pro League season with a 1-0 win over rivals Al-Riyadh.
He smartly finished from close range in the 41st minute, with his goal enough to seal the three points and move Al-Nassr up to third in the table.
Al-Nassr's threat grew as the first half went on, with Milan Borjan making a fine double stop to deny Ronaldo and Talisca once again before Mohamed Simakan struck the post on the rebound.
Mane would eventually break the deadlock in the 41st minute though, darting in front of his marker to meet Abdulrahman Ghareeb's low cross and rifle it into the roof of the net.
The Senegalese striker arguably should have doubled his tally before the break, but was denied by Borjan's stretching save when one-on-one with the Canadian.
Talisca should have wrapped up the points in the final three minutes, but he blazed over an empty net from close range, before having a late goal disallowed for offside.
Data Debrief: Derby delight for Al-Nassr
After drawing their last two matches, this win was a welcome result for Al-Nassr as they racked up their sixth victory of the season to close the gap at the top of the table to six points.
It is just the second time Al-Nassr have avoided defeat in their first 10 matches of a Pro League campaign, last doing so in 2013-14, when they won the league title.
They are now unbeaten in their last seven Pro League derbies (W4 D3), their longest such streak since a run of nine between 2018 and 2020.
This is the first time in eight such games that they have kept a clean sheet though, and limited their opponents to just five shots throughout.
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