Tuchel hints Ziyech will return for Tottenham game

Thomas Tuchel says Hakim Ziyech was left out for Chelsea’s win over Burnley to avoid risk of him picking up another injury.

The Blues boss was advised by the club’s medical staff that Ziyech should not be involved for more than half an hour.


He therefore opted to rest him completely, leaving him out of the matchday squad for the game at Stamford Bridge.

And Tuchel has hinted that Ziyech is likely to return for Thursday’s derby against rivals Tottenham.

The German explained: “He is in a personal overload since five weeks and he has a history of being at risk of injury when he continues to play after five weeks of overload.

“The pure physical recommendation of the staff was to not let him play more than 30 minutes. We opted to give him the break, not on the bench and just playing 30 minutes.

“We said ‘OK, let’s do the break now and then we can use him next week full-on’.”