Thomas Tuchel blames himself as Chelsea face potential problem ahead of Liverpool clash

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Liverpool take on Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday and Thomas Tuchel seemingly regrets his decision on Mateo Kovacic.

Both Liverpool and Chelsea have other priorities this week ahead of meeting in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.

Chelsea were in Champions League action on Tuesday night, beating Lille 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.

Tonight, Liverpool host Leeds United in the Premier League as they look to close the gap to Manchester City once again.

Soon enough though, the focus will turn to Sunday’s game with an important piece of silverware up for grabs.

Managers Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel are having to try and manage their squads accordingly ahead of such a big game, rotating players where possible.

On Tuesday though, Chelsea suffered not one but two injuries that could leave them short for the final.

Midfielder Mateo Kovacic was nursing an injury in the first half and tried to battle through, but was substituted six minutes into the second half.

Just nine minutes later, winger Hakim Ziyech hobbled off to be replaced by Saul Niguez.

Both players are now in a race against time to be fit to face Liverpool on Sunday, with either set to be big misses if injured.

Ziyech has found his feet in the Premier League this season and Kovacic scored a wonder goal against Liverpool earlier this season.

Liverpool probably wouldn’t mind either player missing Sunday’s game, though Chelsea have an incredibly strong squad to deal with injuries.

Still, Chelsea boss Tuchel has told BT Sport that he blames himself for the Kovacic situation because he should have taken him off at half time.

Tuchel doesn’t have updates on either player but is hoping they will be back to face Liverpool on Sunday, with any absences a clear advantage for the Reds.

“I don’t know,” said Tuchel. “I should have substituted Kova earlier at half-time so we could have had one more change. I did not see Hakim’s injury, I did not spoken to the doctor yet. I hope it is not too much.”

“Today is Tuesday, Sunday is a good because there are a lot of days to recover. We don’t like to have that many injuries and we would like to have more impact from the bench on a tactical matter. I hope the guys will be ready for Sunday,” he added.