Thomas Tuchel fumes as red card challenge leaves Matteo Kovacic ‘very unlikely’ for FA Cup final

Thomas Tuchel has revealed that Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic has been left ‘very unlikely’ to be able to play in Saturday’s FA Cup final against Liverpool after being taken off injured against Leeds United.

The Blues won the game comfortably by a scoreline of 3-0 that could, and should, have been more. But the occasion was soured from a west London point of view thanks to a horror challenge from Dan James on Kovacic, which the Welshman saw red for.

?️ “He got a bit of the ball but a hell of a lot of Kovačić!”

Graeme Souness had no doubts that Dan James’ “reckless” tackle was a straight red card ? pic.twitter.com/LTjftQPHHj

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 11, 2022

Kovacic, who was caught on the ankle, was unable to continue, and was taken off after half an hour for Ruben Loftus Cheek, causing concern with an FA Cup final just days away.

Tuchel runs the rule

And, speaking to the media after the game, Thomas Tuchel made it very clear that the midfielder is a major doubt for the game, with Kovacic still in a lot of pain from the challenge.

‘I tell you not as a coach and not as an expert, but for me it is very unlikely. First of all he never goes out. He has a swollen ankle and is in a lot of pain’, the German revealed.

‘I am not a doctor and we need to wait for the examinations, but it is very likely he can’t play. It is absolutely very bad news for us.’

‘If he misses it I’m very disappointed because he was a clear starter. You look at the quality today, with Jorginho and him in midfield, when we played 11 v 11 it was a very strong start. He is a key figure for us in midfield. He played against Liverpool in both of the last two matches from the beginning if I remember it right.

‘He always plays very strong and is super hungry and determined to play these matches. Of course he is in fear now that he will miss it. We will see, we need to wait. Maybe we have a miracle and we make it possible.

‘I didn’t see the challenge live. I was just focused on something else. I saw it from a distance on the iPad. I’m not good at looking at these situations because it hurts me physically to watch it. Everyone told me it is a clear red card.’

Should he miss out, it will come as a massive blow to Chelsea, who are already underdogs against high-flying Liverpool but will be even more so without the Croat.

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Premier League table

#	Team	MP	D	P
1	Manchester City	35	68	86
2	Liverpool FC	36	65	86
3	Chelsea FC	35	39	67
4	Arsenal FC	35	14	66
5	Tottenham Hotspur	35	20	62
6	Manchester United	37	1	58
7	West Ham United	36	11	55
8	Wolverhampton Wanderers	35	1	50
9	Brighton & Hove Albion	36	-4	47
10	Crystal Palace	35	4	44
11	Aston Villa	35	-1	43
12	Brentford FC	36	-8	43
13	Newcastle United	36	-21	43
14	Leicester City	34	-7	42
15	Southampton FC	36	-20	40
16	Everton FC	34	-19	35
17	Burnley FC	35	-17	34
18	Leeds United	35	-35	34
19	Watford FC	35	-38	22
20	Norwich City	35	-53	21

Player	Team	Goals
Salah, Mohamed	Liverpool FC	22
Son, Heung Min	Tottenham Hotspur	20
Ronaldo, Cristiano	Manchester United	18
De Bruyne, Kevin	Manchester City	15
Jota, Diogo	Liverpool FC	15
Mane, Sadio	Liverpool FC	15
Kane, Harry	Tottenham Hotspur	13
Sterling, Raheem	Manchester City	13
Zaha, Wilfried	Crystal Palace	13
Toney, Ivan	Brentford FC	12
Vardy, Jamie	Leicester City	12
Mount, Mason	Chelsea FC	11
Saka, Bukayo	Arsenal FC	11
Mahrez, Riyad	Manchester City	11
Bowen, Jarrod	West Ham United	10
Fernandes, Bruno	Manchester United	10
Dennis, Emmanuel	Watford FC	10
Pukki, Teemu	Norwich City	10
Raphinha	Leeds United	10
Smith-Rowe, Emile	Arsenal FC	10

Player	Team	Red Cards	Yellow Cards
Brownhill, Josh	Burnley FC	0	10
Bednarek, Jan	Southampton FC	0	10
Tarkowski, James	Burnley FC	0	10
Bissouma, Yves	Brighton & Hove Albion	0	10
Firpo, Junior	Leeds United	0	10
Fernandes, Bruno	Manchester United	0	9
Gallagher, Conor	Crystal Palace	0	9
Neves, Ruben	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0	9
Mings, Tyrone	Aston Villa	0	9
Xhaka, Granit	Arsenal FC	1	8
Mctominay, Scott	Manchester United	0	9
Salisu, Mohammed	Southampton FC	0	8
Ronaldo, Cristiano	Manchester United	0	8
Dennis, Emmanuel	Watford FC	0	7
Richarlison	Everton FC	0	8
Pogba, Paul	Manchester United	1	7
James, Daniel	Leeds United	1	7
Alonso, Marcos	Chelsea FC	0	8
Moreno, Rodrigo	Leeds United	0	8
McGinn, John	Aston Villa	0	8

Player	Team	Assists
Salah, Mohamed	Liverpool FC	13
Alexander-Arnold, Trent	Liverpool FC	12
Mount, Mason	Chelsea FC	10
Bowen, Jarrod	West Ham United	10
Robertson, Andy	Liverpool FC	10
Kane, Harry	Tottenham Hotspur	9
Barnes, Harvey	Leicester City	9
Pogba, Paul	Manchester United	9
Cancelo, Joao	Manchester City	9
Jesus, Gabriel	Manchester City	8
Kulusevski, Dejan	Tottenham Hotspur	8
Son, Heung Min	Tottenham Hotspur	7
De Bruyne, Kevin	Manchester City	7
Lacazette, Alexandre	Arsenal FC	7
James, Reece	Chelsea FC	7
Mbeumo, Bryan	Brentford FC	7
Saka, Bukayo	Arsenal FC	6
Fernandes, Bruno	Manchester United	6
Dennis, Emmanuel	Watford FC	6
Antonio, Michail	West Ham United	6