After the big win, Thomas Tuchel vented his great concerns about the health of the players in view of the continued rampant corona pandemic.

Like his German colleagues Jürgen Klopp and Ralf Rangnick before, the coach of Chelsea FC demanded five substitutions in the Premier League after the 3-1 win against Aston Villa on Sunday evening.

“From my point of view, we absolutely need these five changes.

I absolutely don't understand why we don't have them.

That would help the prevention and health protection of the players so much, "said Tuchel.

Rangnick had already expressed almost the same wording earlier. "I think it would be a great help to have five options," said the 63-year-old recently. The interim coach of the English soccer champions Manchester United reminded that this rule was introduced at the beginning of the corona pandemic. "A year and a half later we have a comparable situation, and I see no reason why it shouldn't be the same again," said Rangnick.

As far as he knows, the Premier League is the only major league in Europe that currently only allows three substitutions. Jürgen Klopp from Liverpool FC had given concerns that almost every team had to cope with corona failures and Covid-19 diseases. The situation is not normal, but extraordinary. "And on this basis I beg those with power to change something," said the world coach.

The Premier League clubs had only discussed the situation at a crisis meeting on the Monday before Christmas. He was not alone in wanting five changes, said Tuchel. “But we obviously don't have a chance,” said the coach of the Champions League winner and addressed the leaders of the league association directly: “They let us play all the time, even if we have Covid. We have new injuries and it won't stop. People at the green table, in offices, make these decisions. "

The 3-1 win at Aston Villa on Sunday evening was the eighth game for the third-placed team since the beginning of the month. It was "a really big victory", according to Tuchel. “We are struggling with injuries, we are struggling with Corona. We play against teams that had rescheduled games and had plenty of time to prepare for those games. And we play one game after the other, ”he complained. The Londoners have to play against Brighton & Hove Albion again on Wednesday. “The problem is not the game plan, but the injured and sick players,” stressed Tuchel.

Striker Romelu Lukaku, who had scored the 2-1 goal in the meantime, was on the pitch in the second half for the first time after his Covid 19 illness, as was Callum Hudson-Odoi. "Maybe we made a big mistake to use the players after Corona and only one or two training units," said Tuchel, "I'm very impressed with my players, but super worried." The German national players Timo Werner and Kai Havertz fall because of Corona continue off. On Boxing Day, Thiago Silva and N'Golo Kante also had to leave the pitch injured.

Defending champions Manchester City cemented their lead in a wild game on traditional Boxing Day. Team manager Pep Guardiola's team defeated Leicester City 6: 3 (4: 0) and are now six points ahead of pursuers Liverpool and Chelsea. City was initially unimpressed by the concerns. Kevin De Bruyne (5th), Riyad Mahrez (14th, penalty kick), national player Ilkay Gündogan (21st) and Raheem Sterling (25th, penalty kick) shot out a quick 4-0 lead. James Maddison (55th), the former Leipzig Ademola Lookman (59th) and Kelechi Iheanacho (66th) made the encounter exciting again. Then Aymeric Laporte (69th) and again Sterling (87th) met for Manchester.

Meanwhile, Arsenal FC is still on the upswing.

The former champions won the bottom group Norwich City 5-0 (2-0) and claimed fourth place.

National goalkeeper Bernd Leno was again only on the bench.

Tottenham Hotspur defeated Crystal Palace 3-0 (2-0).

The guests had to do without team manager Patrick Vieira, who had tested positive for the corona virus.