Can Chelsea beat Manchester City without Moses?

Can Chelsea beat Manchester City without Moses?

Premium Times: Sports
2 hours ago

In their last home game against Crystal Palace, Chelsea lost 2-1 – a match Victor Moses missed due to a toe injury. The Nigerian would be given a late fitness test to see whether he would be able to play against Manchester City on Wednesday.

But Moses has great influence if the Blues’ fans are to be believed as 37 per cent of them believe they lost to Palace because of the Nigerian’s absence.

With the season on the home stretch, Chelsea have seen their 10-point gap at the top of the table trimmed to seven points and another loss coupled with a Tottenham win could see that lead whittled to just four points.

But how important has Moses been to Chelsea? In the 29 matches already played this season, Moses has featured in 27, starting 22 of these. And in those 22 matches, Chelsea only lost once – in January to Tottenham 2-0, a game in which his defensive frailties on high balls was exploited. At his pre-match press conference on Tuesday, Antonio Conte disclosed that Moses would have to be assessed on Wednesday before the City encounter.

“I don’t know if Victor will be able to play tomorrow,” said the boss. “We have another day to check the situation in the right way.”

“We have a couple of situations to check and then make the best decision for the starting 11 tomorrow.”

Moses has created 20 scoring chances this term – the sixth highest in the Chelsea squad and he has scored thrice. Whilst he might have been found wanting on high balls, he has not committed any defensive error that directly led to a goal being conceded.

So, if he cannot shake off his injury, would Chelsea suffer another loss?