Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri is sweating over the fitness of Kante after the Frenchman suffered a knee injury in training last weekend. The World Cup winner struggled with a hamstring injury in the closing stages of the season, missing the Blues’ final two Premier League matches before rejoining the squad and picking up another fitness issue. Kante was seen training alone on Tuesday night as the Blues acclimatised to Baku’s Olympic Stadium, but Sarri has not yet ruled his star man out. When asked on Tuesday if Kante would be fit to start, Sarri sad: “I don’t know. “He had a little problem on Saturday, a very little problem with his knee. It’s not really a very serious injury. “The problem is the timing because we had only four days to try to recover him. We are trying. At the moment we don’t know. We will try until the last moment. We will try tomorrow, but at the moment we don’t know. He is 50/50 at the moment. Yesterday 60/40 for the no, today 50/50. He was a little bit better this morning. But we are in trouble in midfield. At the moment we have only three midfielders for three positions. N’Golo is really important for us. He is the only defensive midfielder we have. Without N’Golo it’s a problem for us. Ruben Loftus-Cheek ruptured an Achilles tendon during Chelsea’s friendly clash with New England Revolution earlier this month, meaning Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic and Ross Barkley are expected to start if Kante is not fit. Outcast Danny Drinkwater and youngster Ethan Ampadu are the only other senior midfielders while Academy Player of the Year Conor Gallagher has travelled with the squad. Callum Hudson-Odoi and Antonio Rudiger are also ruled out due to injury so Andreas Christensen will start in central defence while Marcos Alonso and Emerson Palmieri will compete at left-back. Olivier Giroud is the top scorer in the tournament and brings out the best in Eden Hazard, who could be playing his final match for Chelsea before a summer move, so could be given the nod ahead of Gonzalo Higuain. Chelsea predicted line-up vs Arsenal – Europa League final (4-3-3): Arrizabalaga; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Luiz, Alonso; Jorginho, Barkley, Kovacic, Pedro, Hazard, Giroud . Get Chelsea latest news updates directly to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing.
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Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri is sweating over the fitness of Kante after the Frenchman suffered a knee injury in training last weekend. The World Cup winner struggled with a hamstring injury in the closing stages of the season, missing the Blues’ final two Premier League matches before rejoining the squad and picking up another fitness issue. Kante was seen training alone on Tuesday night as the Blues acclimatised to Baku’s Olympic Stadium, but Sarri has not yet ruled his star man out. When asked on Tuesday if Kante would be fit to start, Sarri sad: “I don’t know. “He had a little problem on Saturday, a very little problem with his knee. It’s not really a very serious injury. “The problem is the timing because we had only four days to try to recover him. We are trying. At the moment we don’t know. We will try until the last moment. We will try tomorrow, but at the moment we don’t know. He is 50/50 at the moment. Yesterday 60/40 for the no, today 50/50. He was a little bit better this morning. But we are in trouble in midfield. At the moment we have only three midfielders for three positions. N’Golo is really important for us. He is the only defensive midfielder we have. Without N’Golo it’s a problem for us. Ruben Loftus-Cheek ruptured an Achilles tendon during Chelsea’s friendly clash with New England Revolution earlier this month, meaning Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic and Ross Barkley are expected to start if Kante is not fit. Outcast Danny Drinkwater and youngster Ethan Ampadu are the only other senior midfielders while Academy Player of the Year Conor Gallagher has travelled with the squad. Callum Hudson-Odoi and Antonio Rudiger are also ruled out due to injury so Andreas Christensen will start in central defence while Marcos Alonso and Emerson Palmieri will compete at left-back. Olivier Giroud is the top scorer in the tournament and brings out the best in Eden Hazard, who could be playing his final match for Chelsea before a summer move, so could be given the nod ahead of Gonzalo Higuain. Chelsea predicted line-up vs Arsenal – Europa League final (4-3-3): Arrizabalaga; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Luiz, Alonso; Jorginho, Barkley, Kovacic, Pedro, Hazard, Giroud . Get Chelsea latest news updates directly to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing.
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