Chelsea: Pundit discusses club's 'strategy' for transfer window
Chelsea striker Timo Werner has eased any fears that he might miss the big game against defending champions Liverpool after picking up a slight injury in the 3-1 win over Brighton. Werner was handed his debut, along with Kai Havertz, for Chelsea's opening Premier League game against Brighton.
And the German striker was immediately involved as he won Chelsea a penalty after being taken down by Mat Ryan in the box.
Jorginho stepped up to put Chelsea 1-0 up and even though Brighton drew level after the second half, goals from Reece James and Kurt Zouma helped seal all three points.
Werner ended up playing the full 90 minutes, although his influence on the game dwindled in the latter stages.
And there appeared to be good reason for Werner's lack of involvement towards the end of the game.
Timo Werner picked up an injury in the collision with Mat Ryan (Image: GETTY)
That's because after the full-time whistle the 24-year-old had a big ice pack strapped to his right leg, sparking some concern whether he had picked up an injury issue.
When asked how he picked up the knock, Werner said to Sky Sports: "Yeah, it was from the penalty. The knee of the goalkeeper hit me directly in the muscle and it went very hard.
"For the rest of the game, it hurt a lot and I couldn’t do some movements because the muscle went very hard, but at the end, I’m happy that we won.
"I don’t care about this. We played a good game today, we did well. I’m happy that I got the penalty because I think it's very important for our game.
"We can do much better than we did today, but we won the game. A lot of players in our team haven’t played any games this season. So, we’re maybe not in the strength that we can be.
"In the next few weeks, we will get very fit and confident when we win more games like this today."
Werner was then asked whether he reckons he would be fit to face Liverpool next week.
He said: "Of course. In games like this, you're always fit."
Manager Frank Lampard added: "Timo took a knock when he won the penalty. It's more of a dead leg we hope.
"I wouldn't think too much in terms of next week there but I'd think it was a dead leg, we've got a bit of time for him to get right."
Werner could well have been lining up against Chelsea this Sunday if the Reds had followed through with their strong interest from earlier in the year.
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Chelsea will hope Timo Werner is fit enough to face Liverpool (Image: GETTY)
Liverpool were long seen as the clear frontrunners to sign Werner prior to the coronavirus pandemic.
It slowly became clear that the Merseyside club were hit hard financially by the COVID-19 outbreak, leaving them short of cash.
Ultimately, it meant Liverpool were unable to meet Werner's release clause with Chelsea swooping in to sign the forward instead.
Werner added of his first taste of English football at Brighton: "The Premier League is different football because defenders, I never play against defenders like this; so tall, so many big, massive defenders.
"The game is really fun. Especially in the first-half, I had a lot of space where I can make runs and I think when we can go like this and make the final passes that we missed today, for me, and for the rest of the team, we’ll get a lot of chances."