September 28, (THEWILL) – Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri will be short-handed by no fewer than three significant first-team squad players in their second round Group H tie of their UEFA Champions League game on Wednesday as Adrien Rabiot is now a doubt to feature.
The Frenchman missed their weekend game against Sampdoria, which ended up sidelining Alvaro Morata and Paulo Dybala. Though he trained alone yesterday, he is likely to miss the games against the Blues.
It will constitute a huge blow to Allegri’s plan to keep his team’s recent unbeaten streak going. The Bianconeri have gone unbeaten in their last four competitive games, including their first Champions League group stage match of the season against Malmo, which they won 3-0.
The visitors, Chelsea, will also be without N’Golo Kante.
Having only returned to competitive matches after a groin injury, Kante had hoped to regain his best form for Chelsea, but he is now out with illness and will miss key Champions League and Premier League matches.
The World Cup-winning midfielder has only made three appearances since returning from a three-game absence due to a muscular complaint.
With the 30-year-old ruled out for the foreseeable future, Chelsea will be without a world-class midfield operator when they face Juventus.
Tuchel’s side got off to a winning start in their Champions League defense against Zenit on matchday one, but they can expect it to be a little tougher against the Serie A giants in Turin.
Chelsea may be without the quality of Kante in the middle of the park, but the depth of talents in the side means players like Kai Havertz and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who are pushing for starting spots after coming off the bench in a 1-0 loss to Manchester City last time out, will be ready to take on his responsibilities.
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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
