Chelsea star Christian Pulisic, 21, didn’t start against Tottenham or Southampton in Chelsea’s last two games and only came on for the final 25 minutes of the disappointing defeat at home to Saints on Boxing Day.
Remember: Pulisic has never before had to deal with the festive demands of the Premier League as up to this point in his professional career he would now be taking a few weeks off to recharge the batteries as the Bundesliga has a winter break.
There is no doubt Pulisic is becoming more and more valuable to Chelsea as the recent poor displays and defeats add up, but if Frank Lampard continues to persist with this 3-4-3 system he may not start many games in the near future as there doesn’t seem to be a slot for him, unless he plays in a more central role.
Chelsea attacker Christian Pulisic was not in the squad for the 2-1 victory over Arsenal on Sunday because of a minor groin injury that he picked up during a training session following the Boxing Day defeat to Southampton.
Pulisic’s injury is not believed to be too serious at this stage, but he has been left out of the squad that takes on Arsenal as a precaution – especially with the festive games coming thick and fast.
Marcos Alonso and Reece James missed the trip to Arsenal after failing to recover from injuries that kept them out of the 2-0 defeat to Arsenal.
Olivier Giroud also missed the game due to injury.