Injured Torres set to miss Man City showdown
CHELSEA striker Fernando Torres is set to miss next month’s trip to Premier League title favourites Manchester City after injuring his knee in yesterday’s 3-1 victory over Manchester United.
Torres started and scored in each of Chelsea’s last two league matches, though was dropped to the bench by manager Jose Mourinho, who felt replacement Samuel Eto’o was more likely to exploit “tight spaces” anticipated to be left in behind the United defence.
Eto’o rewarded his manager’s faith with a hat-trick and was replaced by Torres for the final 10 minutes as Chelsea looked to close out the match.
But the Spain star injured his knee and is now set for a spell on the sidelines.
“It’s lateral ligaments in his knee,” confirmed Mourinho. “It will be weeks. It’s a pity because ‘Nando is having a good moment.”
Chelsea take on Stoke in the FA Cup next weekend, before returning to league action against West Ham ahead of the trip to the Etihad Stadium on 3 February.
And Mourinho is set to put his faith in Eto’o and Demba Ba, who has made just two league starts this season and had been linked with a move away from the club this month.
“Demba had a fantastic week, it was difficult to leave him out of selection [against United] because he worked very, very well,” he said.
“The next matches is for Demba [Ba] and Samuel.”