Thomas Tuchel confirms 4 Covid-19 cases in Chelsea squad

West Ham United v Chelsea - Premier League
West Ham United v Chelsea - Premier League / Sebastian Frej/MB Media/GettyImages
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Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that Romelu Lukaku, Ben Chilwell, Timo Werner and Callum Hudson-Odoi have tested positive for Covid-19.

While Chilwell is injured and would've been unavailable for this evening's clash with Everton, Lukaku, Werner and Hudson-Odoi were all expected to feature.

Christian Pulisic is set to start up front in Werner and Lukaku's absence - as Chelsea currently have no available strikers due to the outbreak.

Speaking ahead of the game Tuchel said: "We did some extra tests at 12 o’clock today to make sure who would arrive at lunch. From there we had to pick the team. Would it be the same line-up? I don’t know. The situation started yesterday with the players feeling unwell and not training.

"We had to confirm the flow tests and wait for the PCR results. The results are the results and the situation is the situation. We still have a strong squad and one we want to push forward, and that should be able to compete. Like always, we focus on the guys who are there."

The Chelsea boss also stated that Kai Havertz has yet to test positive but is currently unwell. The German had a serious bout of Covid last year after signing for Chelsea.

"Kai feels unwell, he’s not positive yet but we’re waiting for test results and we decided to not bring him to the squad."