Chelsea verdict: Injury-hit Blues ride their luck against Watford… but it could still be the end for Saul Niguez

THOMAS TUCHEL was scraping the barrel for players to select on Wednesday evening as his Chelsea side rode their luck to beat Watford 2-1. 

Jorginho was an unused sub after not being 100 per cent fit, and Tuchel even used Trevoh Chalobah in holding midfield over him – which says all you need to know about the midfield injury crisis at Chelsea.

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Chelsea may be facing an injury crisis but Saul Niguez won’t be getting anywhere near the team[/caption]

Before the game Tuchel spoke about his players being fatigued, and that was even before taking into account they are still without key players Ben Chilwell, N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic.

The latter two were missed immensely at Vicarage Road as Chelsea failed to control the game in the middle of the park, which they have grown so used to doing.

Chelsea’s midfield pivot of Saul Niguez and Ruben Loftus-Cheek wasn’t a patch on the usual partnership between Jorginho and Kante.

Saul in particular was just awful – and that is being kind.

At times he looked like a League Two player rather than a Premier League player and a Spanish international.

It’s hard to pinpoint what is going so terribly wrong for Saul right now, but he didn’t look at it, picked up an early booking and then could not find a Chelsea team-mate with even a simple pass. 

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It feels like this was a make or break moment for Saul in a Chelsea shirt, because with the other options ahead of him you cannot see him getting many more chances to impress.

Chelsea almost certainly will not be using the option to buy him, that you can be sure of.

But make no mistake, Chelsea are in a little bit of trouble right now with injuries, especially now it looks like they have to add Chalobah to that list as well.

Tuchel will be very concerned with the performance, especially as it’s the first of TEN during the month of December. 

At this rate, the academy boys will be licking their lips as they may well be being called upon to come and fill spaces in a squad that is usually so strong in depth, but being so injury hit right now.

To sum it up, it’s another terrible day for Saul, Chelsea rode their luck, and Watford deserved a lot more from this game than they got.

But these are the wins you grind out that win you Premier League titles.

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