Thomas Tuchel says

Thomas Tuchel says his Chelsea players looked “tired” in the 1-1 draw against Brighton and need some days off ahead of the Super Sunday showdown against Tottenham.

It was an often lethargic performance from Chelsea as they took a point from the Amex Stadium, with Hakim Ziyech’s first-half strike being cancelled out by Adam Webster’s free header.

Chelsea are winless in their last four Premier League outings, drawing three, and missed the chance to go above Liverpool into second.

It was not the performance Tuchel will have wanted ahead of their match against bitter rivals Tottenham who they recently beat over two legs in the Carabao Cup semi-finals.

Spurs have a whopping five games in hand over Chelsea after a string of recent Covid postponements, adding an extra dimension of pressure for the Blues as they look to halt their recent slide.

Tuchel admitted that it had been a tough trip to Brighton, but given the circumstances, he could not be upset with his players.

He said: “We have to respect the opponent it’s very tough to play at Brighton. They played it like a cup game and the noise at the end of the whistle was like if we lost the game and it can very easily give you the impression that we lost, but we didn’t.

Thomas Tuchel says

“Other teams will struggle to get points here, and it’s even tough if you’re full strength and not tired. There are some obstacles to overcome here and I refuse to be angry because it’s not about the ambition.

“We were a bit lucky to be 1-0 ahead and you can take advantage to score a second one, but we struggled to show the quality. We know the reasons behind it and we demand a lot from us. But it’s not the moment to be too harsh on the team.”