Thomas Tuchel to give Chelsea players time off to ‘recharge batteries’ after Brighton draw

Blues' Premier League title hopes take another hit as Tuchel says players need to 'reconnect' ahead of Tottenham match

Tariq Lamptey of Brighton & Hove Albion crosses the ball under pressure from Thiago Silva of Chelsea during the Premier League match at American Express Community Stadium on January 18, 2022 in Brighton. The match finished 1-1. Getty Images

Cesar Azpilicueta of Chelsea in action. Getty Images

Hakim Ziyech of Chelsea. Getty Images

Alexis Mac Allister of Brighton & Hove Albion runs with the ball. Getty Images

Callum Hudson-Odoi of Chelsea is pressured by Steven Alzate and Tariq Lamptey of Brighton. Getty Images

Referee Kevin Friend speaks to Marcos Alonso of Chelsea. Getty Images

Brighton's Marc Cucurella reacts at the end of the Premier League match at the AMEX Stadium. PA

Brighton & Hove Albion's Adam Webster celebrates scoring their first goal as Chelsea's Thiago Silva reacts. Reuters

Brighton & Hove Albion's Neal Maupay in action with Chelsea's Antonio Rudiger. Reuters

Chelsea's German head coach Thomas Tuchel looks on. AFP

Chelsea's Spanish defender Marcos Alonso vies with Brighton's English defender Adam Webster. AFP

Chelsea's Thiago Silva controls the ball. AP Photo

Chelsea's Romelu Lukaku kicks the ball at goal. AP Photo

Brighton's goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, right, makes a save in front of Chelsea's Hakim Ziyech. AP Photo

Cesar Azpilicueta and Romelu Lukaku of Chelsea exchange words after the goal of teammate Hakim Ziyech. Getty Images

Thomas Tuchel said a combination of injuries, fatigue and Covid were behind Chelsea's faltering title bid as the Blues produced another lacklustre performance in the 1-1 Premier League draw at Brighton on Tuesday.

The European champions’ fading title hopes suffered another setback after Hakim Ziyech’s first-half opener was cancelled out by stand-in Albion skipper Adam Webster.

It extended Chelsea's run to just two wins in their last nine league games and left them 12 points off leaders Manchester City having been top themselves at the start of December.

Blues boss Tuchel once again bemoaned his club’s punishing schedule and now plans to give his players two days off ahead of Sunday’s home game against Tottenham Hotspur.

Asked to explain the recent poor league form, the German replied: “I answered this question a hundred times, if you look at our situation of long-term injuries, of key players injured, and of Covid and you look at our schedule you will have the answer.

“We are mentally tired and physically tired, you can see it in our performance, it’s as easy as that. We need to recharge the batteries, we need to reconnect.

“This is my feeling, that’s why I give the players two days off and then we will use Friday and Saturday to prepare for Sunday.”

Chelsea may soon be looking over their shoulders as the plethora of recent postponements have left top-four rivals Arsenal and Tottenham with games in hand in the battle for Champions League qualification.

Ziyech fired the Blues in front against the run of play with a low strike from distance but they could not prevent Brighton deservedly earning a point courtesy of a thumping 60th-minute header from Webster.

Tuchel – who guided his side to the Carabao Cup final this month with a two-legged semi-final victory over Spurs – insisted the performance and result at the Amex Stadium was not down to a lack of ambition.

“It’s very, very tough to play at Brighton and they played it like a cup game, the noise at the whistle at the end was like we lost the game and this can very easily give you the impression that we lost but we didn’t,” he said.

Brighton remain ninth following their 11th draw of a fruitful campaign in which they have lost just four times in the league.

Seagulls boss Graham Potter felt his side could have taken all three points with a little help from the “football gods”.

“We played with courage, with quality, intensity, everything you need to do against a top team,” he said.

“Sometimes the football gods are with you, sometimes they’re not, and you have to accept that but we gave ourselves a chance to win that, absolutely.”