Tue Mar 26, 2019 10:32 am
Cardiff City and Neil Warnock handed major injury scare ahead of Chelsea visit
London News
Tuesday 26th March 2019
The Premier League returns to our screens this weekend and Chelsea's top four hopes will be tested against relegation threatened Cardiff City.
Defeat at Everton before the international break denied the Blues the chance to move level on points with London rivals Arsenal, but can do so by recording a double over the Bluebirds.
It finished 4-1 to the west London outfit in the reverse fixture earlier in the season, with Eden Hazard helping himself to a hat-trick and they'll need to be just as ruthless on Sunday to take away maximum points.
Head coach Maurizio Sarri alluded to his side needing to take their chances following that setback against the Toffees.
"I don’t know, but you have to stay in the match. If you are not able to score… in the first half we had six or seven opportunities," the Italian told reporters in his post-match press conference.
"We were not able to score, we had only to stay in the match, to defend very well and later if you are able to take opportunities then you score.
"First of all we needed to stay in the match."
Converting shots to goals has been a problem for Sarri's side this term and it could end up costing them in the battle with Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Manchester Unite to seal a top four spot.
Only Manchester City have attempted more shots (525) than Chelsea (476) in the Premier League this season, but while Pep Guardiola's side are the leading scorers across the entire division (79) the Blues are down in sixth with 50.
The task of getting a win in Wales may have been made a lot more easier with the news that Neil Warnock has suffered a major injury scare ahead of the game.
As reported , Callum Paterson - one of the Bluebirds' leading scorers this season - limped off after only 32 minutes during Scotland's Euro 2020 qualifier against San Marino at the weekend and seemingly rolled his ankle.
The Bluebirds are still awaiting news regarding Paterson's injury but if ruled out it would be a massive blow to Warnock, who is already without defender Sol Bamba for the rest of the season because of an ACL injury.