Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed that forward Christopher Nkunku will not start against Preston North today.
PNE fans finally have what they wanted – a big away trip to a Premier League club.
North End have welcomed Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur to Deepdale in the last 15 years.
Away trips to the so-called ‘big six’ have been much rarer events; we can remember away games at Arsenal and Chelsea in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.
That’s a long, long time ago now though and PNE fans are travelling in number to roar North End on against big-spending Chelsea.
North End meet the Blues in the third round of the FA Cup with few expecting PNE to come up with a result at Stamford Bridge.
Christopher Nkunku unable to start against PNE
Chelsea have spent more than £1billion under Todd Boehly and that means Mauricio Pochettino has an embarrassment of riches at his disposal.
That is money North End could only dream of spending and there will be top international players who probably have to sit on the bench against PNE today.
One of them is forward Christopher Nkunku, who joined Chelsea in a huge £52million move from RB Leipzig over the summer.
The Frenchman picked up an injury in pre-season and was only able to make his first Premier League appearance on Boxing Day.
Nkunku has been looking to gain momentum but has now picked up another injury problem.
Pochettino has told Football London that Nkunku has suffered an issue and will not start against PNE.
Nkunku will still be on the bench but will not be ready to start – which will surely be a source of relief to North End defenders.
“I am going to tell you Christoph [Nkunku] is not going to start tomorrow as he suffered issues during the week but he is going to be in the squad. We need to be careful with him,” said Pochettino.
Of course, Chelsea still have immense attacking talent to call upon against North End but any boost will be welcomed today, and Nkunku having to sit on the bench is certainly one of them.