Thomas Tuchel expects Mateo Kovacic to miss Saturday's FA Cup final after Dan James' reckless challenge in Chelsea's 3-0 win at Leeds. Kovacic was forced off in the 30th minute with an ankle injury, shortly after James had been shown a straight red card for his high tackle on the Croatia midfielder.
Chelsea cruised to victory and edged Leeds deeper into the relegation mire through Mason Mount's early opener and second-half goals from Christian Pulisic and Romelu Lukaku. But boss Tuchel said the satisfaction of his side's timely return to form before they face Liverpool at Wembley had been tempered by Kovacic's likely absence.
Tuchel, whose side halted a three-game winless run to move four points clear of Arsenal in third place, said: "He has a swollen ankle and is in a lot of pain. For me, like I say, I'm not a doctor and we need to wait for the examinations, but's very unlikely that he can play. It's absolutely bad news for us on our perfect evening. If he misses it I'm very disappointed because he was a clear starter."
