{"id":57945,"date":"2023-04-14T21:38:26","date_gmt":"2023-04-14T21:38:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/04\/14\/kalidou-koulibaly-out-for-a-matter-of-weeks-says-frank-lampard\/"},"modified":"2023-04-14T21:38:26","modified_gmt":"2023-04-14T21:38:26","slug":"kalidou-koulibaly-out-for-a-matter-of-weeks-says-frank-lampard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/04\/14\/kalidou-koulibaly-out-for-a-matter-of-weeks-says-frank-lampard\/","title":{"rendered":"Kalidou Koulibaly out for ‘a matter of weeks’, says Frank Lampard"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Kalidou Koulibaly joined Chelsea from Napoli in July
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Kalidou Koulibaly will miss Chelsea\u2019s next two games and be out for \u201ca matter of weeks\u201d with a hamstring injury, says interim manager Frank Lampard.<\/p>\n

The Senegal centre-back, 31, picked up the injury during the\u00a0Blues\u2019 2-0 defeat at Real Madrid\u00a0in their Champions League quarter-final first leg.<\/p>\n

He will miss Saturday\u2019s Premier League match at home to Brighton and the return leg against Real on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe is a very good, very experienced player,\u201d said Lampard.<\/p>\n

Left-back Marc Cucurella replaced Koulibaly in the 55th minute at the Bernabeu.<\/p>\n

Benoit Badiashile could come in for the Brighton match, but the 22-year-old Frenchman is not registered for the Blues in Europe. Trevoh Chalobah, 23, is another option for Lampard and is in Chelsea\u2019s European squad.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople talk a lot about our squad but we haven\u2019t got lots of cover in certain times and the Champions League squad is different to the Premier League squad,\u201d said Lampard.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course it is a disappointment for Koulibaly and for us, but it\u2019s an opportunity [for others] and we carry on without him and hopefully he gets as fit as he can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chelsea, who are 11th in the league, are struggling for form and have not scored a goal in their last four matches in all competitions.<\/p>\n

Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang came on in their 1-0 loss against Wolves last weekend and Lampard hinted the 33-year-old could be involved against Brighton.<\/p>\n

\u201cAuba is a bit like everybody in the squad now, whether you have been starting before or not starting so much, everyone now needs to compete in training to show that you are worthy of a place,\u201d added Lampard.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course history says he has a fantastic goalscoring record so we\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chelsea have played three games in the last six days and some players, who have been out of the team, have had limited opportunities to impress Lampard since he returned to the club after Graham Potter was sacked.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can\u2019t all play, the maths doesn\u2019t work,\u201d he said. \u201cFirstly, I want to win football matches \u2013 as we\u2019re Chelsea and that\u2019s what\u2019s expected of us.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then secondly I want to be part of a process in this period where, if players deserve to play, they get an opportunity on the pitch to show what they can do.<\/p>\n

\u201cSaturday will be an opportunity for some players that didn\u2019t play in the Champions League, who possibly didn\u2019t play at the weekend, to come in because it\u2019s a game where we absolutely need freshness and energy as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

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