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Scott Trotter

Chelsea injury news, Reece James plan - 5 questions Thomas Tuchel must answer ahead of Norwich

Thomas Tuchel will have yet another press conference at Cobham on Wednesday afternoon as he continues his preparations for the final stretch of Chelsea's season.

The Blues next take on Norwich City at Carrow Road on Thursday evening looking to extend their winning run following victories over Tottenham, Crystal Palace and Burnley in the Premier League.

Chelsea saw plenty of success in their last clash against the Canaries as they came away 7-0 winners thanks to a Mason Mount hat trick and goals from Callum Hudson-Odoi, Reece James, Ben Chilwell and a Max Aarons own goal.

Tuchel will take nothing for granted however, as the 48-year-old looks to establish Chelsea's strength going into the final stretch of the season once again.

football.london takes a look at the questions facing Tuchel ahead of the trip to Norfolk below:

Injury news

Chelsea announced that only Ben Chilwell was missing from first team training on Monday afternoon, offering Tuchel a massive boost ahead of the clash with Norwich.

Marcos Alonso returned to Cobham following a bout of Covid-19 while Cesar Azpilicueta finally overcame the knock he picked up in the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool.

It will be interesting to get an update on match-fit the pair after a few days of training to determine their ability to feature at Carrow Road.

Perhaps, more vital will be an update on Hudson-Odoi, who has suffered from an Achilles issue and played through pain for the Blues at times this season. The young winger has missed the match at the weekend despite figuring in the FA Cup against Luton Town, with his availability being inconsistent since returning from the Club World Cup.

While he remains out of action for the season at the moment, an update on Chilwell wouldn't go amiss either - especially after he was pictured doing some individual work at Cobham.

Reece James plan

Speaking of players who have recovered from injury, it didn't take James long to start firing.

His influence against Burnley was inspired as he recorded a goal and assist as he continued his comeback from injury with 70 minutes on the pitch.

Following the game, Tuchel touched on how that may impact his pitch time going forwards.

He said: "The good thing is I think it makes a huge difference for Reece if he plays 65 or 70 minutes or 90 minutes which is now ideal because we have four days in between which should give us the possibility to play in Norwich.

"Of course we have to take care and we cannot overuse him."

While James appears to be in contention for Thursday night, it will be interesting to know if his recovery since Burnley means he has hit the level where he could be used against Norwich and also Newcastle at the weekend - particularly with Azpilicueta potentially being available.

Romelu Lukaku

Another player who impressed against Sean Dyche's side was Kai Havertz, who added two goals to his season's tally.

The German international has been at the forefront of a more fluid Blues attack since winning the place in the side over Romelu Lukaku.

"Of course. The players, they put themselves on the pitch and when they are on the pitch with performances in training or like for us, it’s not so easy in training, so in matches," Tuchel stated.

"He gives a lot of intensity and he’s involved in goals. He scored again, so it’s a very good moment and it’s on him to keep going. This is how it is.

"We played the last cup match without him, Timo was very strong and was very close to starting today. Romelu got his goal and we will need everybody, but at this moment, he’s in really good shape."

The Blues boss added: "What he gives us is huge volume. He covers a lot of metres, he covers a lot of metres in high intensity, so he finds the intensity no matter what the system the opponent defends against us, he finds intensive runs, he finds distances."

It's in stark contrast to much of Lukaku's contribution and it can only signal a question that has been brought up many times before. Where does the Belgian now fit into the side or if he does, will be a massive question for Tuchel to tackle.

Andreas Christensen

Another player whose name often is not far away from a press conference question with his contract set to expire in the summer.

The stakes have been upped in recent days with reports in Spain suggesting the Denmark international is on the verge of sealing a move to Barcelona.

Sport, via Sport Witness, suggest he underwent the second part of his medical on Monday and that his agents will travel to complete the paperwork on the move.

Tuchel has previously dropped the Denmark international with regard to difficulty in his contract negotiations with Chelsea, but how he would treat a player that wouldn't be playing at the club next season would be interesting to see given competition from the likes of Thiago Silva and Trevoh Chalobah, while Azpilicueta could enter the back three given James' return.

Takeover latest

There will perhaps be questions Tuchel is unable to answer but they will be persistent throughout the takeover process as journalists try to glean any information that has been fed to the Chelsea coach.

The former Dortmund coach has often spoken highly of his communication with Marina Granovskaia and Petr Cech. Speaking ahead of Burnley he noted: "Marina is ill at the moment, otherwise she would have been here and briefed everybody."

If the Chelsea director has recovered perhaps she can shed more light on the current situation, with Roman Abramovich's deadline for bids for the club set for next Tuesday.

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