Thomas Tuchel sweats over Edouard Mendy’s injury ahead of Manchester City clash

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel faces anxious wait to know if Edouard Mendy will be fit for the Premier League clash against Manchester City, saying it is a “race against pain and time”.

The shot-stopper missed Chelsea’s 3-0 away win over fierce rivals Tottenham with a hip injury.

And he’s due to miss Wednesday’s Carabao Cup tie against Aston Villa too.

But tomorrow’s game is not the worry for Chelsea in terms of getting Mendy fit.

They have Kepa Arrizabalaga or Marcus Bettinelli to fill the hole left by the 29-year-old.

Saturday’s six-pointer against City, however, will be a concern for the Blues.

Champions League-winning boss Thomas Tuchel confirmed Mendy’s absence for Wednesday.

And says an appearance on Saturday against City depends on how much pain the keeper is in come training on Thursday.

The German said: “Mendy cannot play [against Villa]. He is not training so far.

“We will try to do everything for Saturday and to reintegrate him tomorrow in individual training and hopefully in Thursday’s team training but not yet.

“It’s a matter of the amount of pain and the loads that we have for the players and there was quite some intensive games.

“I think it’s possible [he could play against City] but it’s a race against pain and a race against time so let’s see.

“Hopefully he will be back in team training on Thursday and if this goes well he can be ready for Saturday but I don’t know right now.”