Blues not at best but tough to beat: Boss
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LONDON • Chelsea are not yet playing at their best but are doing enough to ensure they remain a tough side to beat in the Premier League, manager Thomas Tuchel said on Friday.
The Blues have won three of four league games, but Tuchel acknowledged they had issues to sort out after a 1-1 draw at Liverpool and a 3-0 home win over Aston Villa.
"I didn't expect us to be at our top level early in September, especially after this pre-season and Covid," he said ahead of today's match at London rivals Tottenham.
"For me at the moment, it's more important that we are competitive, we play relentless and have belief to overcome difficult minutes. Competition is high. It's a good thing that we are able to win.
"I'm not saying we're not playing well, we can play better but we are tough to beat. I feel everybody is aware that we can do better."
Tuchel added that he was looking forward to the clash of the two teams' strikers - Chelsea's Romelu Lukaku and Spurs' Harry Kane.
While Lukaku has three goals in three starts on his Premier League return, Kane has yet to open his league account after winning the Golden Boot last season.
"They score decisive goals and love to score, always score no matter what the competition is," he said.
"That's the similarity but, apart from this, they are very different players. If Kane plays, we have to focus on how to defend him."
Tuchel confirmed that N'Golo Kante has recovered from a foot injury but Christian Pulisic (ankle) is not in the squad.
Tottenham, meanwhile, are suffering an injury crisis.
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Chelsea have won their last five away London derbies. They've never won six in a row on the road in the league.
Manager Nuno Espirito Santo has said that he hopes to have Giovani lo Celso, Cristian Romero and Davinson Sanchez available for today after the trio returned from Covid-19 quarantine.
The South Americans are coming back from international duty, having trained in Croatia to avoid quarantining in England where they would have had to stay in a hotel for 10 days because they visited Brazil, which is on the United Kingdom's "red list".
"They arrive Saturday. We have a training session in the afternoon," Nuno said on Friday, adding that he would have to assess the trio.
"If we (think) they will be an option, we must consider them. It's been hard because absences are always a problem, it requires solutions, it requires adaptations."
Steven Bergwijn and Lucas Moura are doubts for today, after picking up injuries in Thursday's 2-2 Europa Conference League draw at Rennes.
Spurs' growing injury list includes Son Heung-min, Eric Dier and Ryan Sessegnon.
Japhet Tanganga is unavailable due to suspension.
REUTERS
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