Chelsea’s plans for their FA Cup final against Liverpool were apparently majorly disrupted by one of their own players.
The Reds won their eighth FA Cup thanks to a penalty shootout victory over Chelsea at Wembley Stadium on Saturday. The match finished goalless after extra time, with Kostas Tsimikas scoring the winning spot-kick.
During the game, though, Liverpool were hampered by potential injuries to Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk. Jurgen Klopp afterwards confirmed that he hopes the duo are both fine, with Fabinho already on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.
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For Chelsea, they were reportedly forced into a rather late change to their preparations for the final thanks to one of their own players. Andreas Christensen is said to have told the club on the morning of the match that he would not be available to play.
According to the Evening Standard, the defender informed Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel on the morning of the game of his intention not to play against Liverpool, despite originally being pencilled in to start. It is said that Christensen was not injured, with the decision leaving his team-mates “stunned” over the situation.
Tuchel was forced to bring in young defender Trevoh Chalobah into the defence, with Christensen not in the matchday squad. It has been claimed that Christensen said he felt unwell during the week, despite playing in Chelsea’s league match against Leeds United on Wednesday night.
Christensen is expected to leave Chelsea on a free transfer at the end of the season. Barcelona are the club being heavily linked with his services, while fellow defender Antonio Rudiger is apparently set to sign for Real Madrid as a free agent.
