Pochettino Provides Update on Romeo Lavia’s Injury Scare

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Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has acknowledged that midfielder Romeo Lavia experienced an injury concern during the Blues’ 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace.

Lavia, a £58m signing in the summer, faced multiple fitness issues, causing him to miss the initial four months of the season.

Despite finally making his debut with a 30-minute appearance at Stamford Bridge, the joy was short-lived as Pochettino revealed that Lavia struggled to walk by the end of the game, prompting additional medical assessments due to another problem.

Pochettino expressed concern, stating, “He feels something, some issue,” Pochettino said. “We need to check and hope it’s not [bad].

“I’m a little bit worried. I don’t know, because if you were watching the game [against Crystal Palace] you cannot appreciate I was changing the position with Lavia at the end because he was struggling to run. We will see what is going on.

“Hopefully it is not a big issue and he can play with us again. Important player that will recover and it is going to be a shame if we cannot use him in the next few games.”

Observing Lavia’s difficulties during the match, Pochettino altered his position, and he emphasized the importance of a swift recovery for the player.

Winger Mykhailo Mudryk also underwent a scan after the game following his departure with 20 minutes remaining.

Chelsea is set to conclude a challenging 2023 with an away fixture at Kenilworth Road against Luton Town, a team currently on a two-game winning streak and embracing their underdog role.

“I think that game against Crystal Palace is a good example that we need to go there, to Luton, and to think it is going to be really tough,” Pochettino said of the upcoming game. “The stadium, the fans, it is a team that loves to fight, loves to work really, really hard.

“It is so difficult if you watch the last few games at their stadium, it’s always tough for all of the opponents. If we want to get a good result, we need to be ready to of course play football, but we need to match their desire, the capacity to fight in every single goal. It’s going to be a good test for us. It’s the challenge to be consistent. For us now, it’s to go there and first of all to fight, be clever, be focused and then try to win the game.”

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