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Why Graham Potter has a massive Denis Zakaria decision to make tonight for Chelsea vs Dinamo Zagreb

Home> Absolute Chelsea

Updated 13:16 4 Jan 2023 GMTPublished 10:00 2 Nov 2022 GMT

Why Graham Potter has a massive Denis Zakaria decision to make tonight for Chelsea vs Dinamo Zagreb

Zakaria is yet to have played a single minute for Chelsea.

Robert Calcutt

Robert Calcutt

Chelsea boss Graham Potter has a big decision to make regarding Denis Zakaria as a result of certain FIFA rules.

The Swiss international joined the Blues on the Deadline Day on loan from Juventus.

However, the midfielder has not yet played a single minute for the club since he joined, having been named on the bench a number of times.

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Despite his lack of game time so far, Zakaria could be given the opportunity to start against Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday night.

Chelsea have already secured their spot in the last-16 of the Champions League, and Potter could therefore choose to make a number of changes to his starting XI.

This gives Zakaria a chance to play his first minutes in a Chelsea shirt, but his head coach will have to make a big decision regarding his inclusion.

As a result of FIFA rules, he will have to finish the campaign either at Chelsea or with his parent side Juventus should he feature for the former against Zagreb.

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Zakaria would also not be allowed to find another loan club in January should he return to Juventus, meaning a lot is resting on his inclusion on Wednesday night.

Potter spoke on the 25-year-old’s potential involvement in their final Champions League Group E match during his pre-match press conference.

The head coach said: "He's been really good, trained well, supported his teammates.

“Disappointed not to play, like everybody is. Up until the weekend, results have been positive.

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“He's in the frame, in the squad, available. We will wait and see."

Denis Zakaria during a warmup for Chelsea. (Alamy)
Denis Zakaria during a warmup for Chelsea. (Alamy)

Chelsea will be looking to make a return to winning ways on Wednesday night following their 4-1 defeat to Brighton at the weekend.

The Blues were well beaten at Potter’s former side, and the 47-year-old shared his thoughts on what was his first loss as head coach of his new club.

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"It's never nice to lose, in the matter that we did was not pleasant. They came out the blocks fast, we didn't do that ourselves. Before we can talk about tactics, we are two nil down.

"We had a big chance to make it 2-1, then the game became more open than we'd have liked. In the end, we didn't do well enough to get the points."

Chelsea will return to continental action in the new year following their progression to the last-16.

They will play three more domestic games before the break for the World Cup, coming up against the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City.

Featured Image Credit: Alamy

Topics: Chelsea, Graham Potter, Champions League

Robert Calcutt
Robert Calcutt

Content Writer for Absolute Chelsea. Qualified and accredited journalist.

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@robert_calcutt

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