Christian Pulisic gets praise from Lampard beforehand, another injury worry after FA Cup win
- by Paul Kennedy @pkedit, Jun 29, 2020
American Christian Pulisic, who scored in Chelsea's first two games back since the COVID-19 shutdown ended, had another strong game, causing the Foxes problems with runs through their defense. But he left the game during the second-half water break with what Chelsea manager Frank Lampard described as tightness in his calf.
"Hopefully," said Lampard, "nothing that keeps him out."
Sunday's game was Chelsea's third in eight days, and it has three more Premier League games over the next nine days -- Wednesday at West Ham United, Saturday against Watford at Stamford Bridge and the Tuesday after that against Crystal Palace in another London away. Its FA semifinal opponent is Manchester United, which it will play in July 18 at Stamford Bridge.
Pulisic scored in 2-1 victories over Aston Villa and Manchester City in his first action since Jan. 1. Injuries slowed him down in the last part of his stint at Borussia Dortmund, and they have limited him to 13 starts in 31 games in his first Premier League season.
The latest injury worry came a day after Lampard said Pulisic has the talent to produce goals like the Premier League's best wide players.
"I think he can be a really big player," Lampard said. "Because he broke through so young in Germany and he moves to us, people's expectations rise, but we have to take his age into consideration. There's no doubt in his quality and you can see that. He is very keen to work and improve.
"He is particularly hungry at the minute because of his injury. And if he wants to learn, and he does, on the training pitch and how he sees the game, he needs to look at the players he sees around him who have made that sort of jump like the Raheem Sterlings, Sadio Manes and Mo Salahs who are now producing numbers from wide areas. It is important that he understands the work he needs to do to do that because he definitely has the talent to do it. He needs to try and get to that level and I am delighted to have him at the minute. He works hard every day and he has to set his sights as high as he can."
