When Premier League action resumed following the international break, there was genuine debate as to whether this evening's contest between Chelsea and Arsenal at Stamford Bridge would be crucial in the battle to finish third behind title contenders Manchester City and Liverpool.
Yet two weeks is an awfully long time in football – and so it has proved once more. Chelsea head into the game confident mood having booked their place in the FA Cup final on Sunday and not come under threat from those chasing them in the top-flight table. Arsenal, meanwhile, have lost their previous two league matches to Crystal Palace and Brighton and Hove Albion. The momentum built up by Mikel Arteta's side has been well and truly halted.
A win for Tuchel's side tonight would leave them eleven points ahead of the Gunners with just seven games to play. So Chelsea's players will not be lacking motivation. "It seems like things are pretty safe, but they can turn so, so quickly with our schedule," Tuchel said.
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"We want to play a physical game again, want to demand again from the team. I accept it is very demanding and challenging for everybody but at the same time, it’s what you sign up for when you sign up for Chelsea. We demand special things, we want to be a special group. We have to trust the players can overcome again and compete with teams who maybe have more days to prepare, fewer games in their legs, and still on us to push the standards and level.”
Arteta has questioned why the game is being played on a Wednesday evening when Arsenal have to face Manchester United on Saturday lunchtime. Given Chelsea have played 16 more matches than the Gunners in all competitions this term, it is a complaint that Tuchel doesn't quite agree with.
He said: “Maybe if you underperform, out of cups and European competitions too early for what you demand of yourself, it can limit your spirit, can have an effect on the atmosphere. So it’s very, very different. If you build a team that is built for playing 65 games and suddenly you only have 40 and have whole weeks to prepare for games, it can also be heavy on your shoulders.
“It can be heavier than the heavy legs from playing all the time. So I understand that, on paper, they maybe have an advantage. But the atmosphere that can build from under-performing your own demands, you can feel it every on your shoulders. He (Arteta) must have his reasons and maybe he felt it in this way. But compared to us, it cannot be about the minutes or which day they play.”
Tuchel doesn't have a fully fit squad from which to select his side for this evening's game. Ben Chilwell (knee) is out despite his recovery from an ACL injury going well. Callum Hudson-Odoi, meanwhile, is not ready to return due to an Achilles issue he has been nursing over the past six weeks. And at the weekend, Mateo Kovacic sustained an ankle ligament injury that will keep him out for at least two weeks.
Still, the Chelsea head coach isn't short of quality options. In goal will be Edouard Mendy, who has recovered well from his mistake in the first leg of the Blues' Champions League quarter-final tie against Real Madrid. Thiago Silva should continue in the middle of the back three and Antonio Rudiger on the left. And given his form over the past two matches, Reece James may keep his spot on the right to curtail the threat of Gabriel Martinelli.
That would mean Cesar Azpilicueta continues at right wing-back and Marcos Alonso, who has looked sharper in recent matches after a prolonged spell of poor form, starts on the left. In midfield, N'Golo Kante is expected to return and could be partnered by Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who came on and scored in the FA Cup semi-final at the weekend.
Mason Mount has four goals and two assists in his last two matches and so is a certainty to start. As is Timo Werner who has rediscovered his best form over the past fortnight. Tuchel referenced the physical load placed on Kai Havertz in recent matches and so Romelu Lukaku could be given an opportunity to impress at the point of the attack.
Predicted Chelsea side: Mendy; James, Silva, Rudiger; Azpilicueta, Kante, Loftus-Cheek, Alonso; Mount, Lukaku, Werner
