Maurizio Sarri has confirmed Kepa Arrrizabalaga will remain Chelsea’s No.1 goalkeeper, despite Willy Caballero keeping a clean sheet against Tottenham on Wednesday.
Kepa drew the ire of his manager when he refused to be substituted during Sunday’s League Cup final defeat, despite appearing to suffer from cramp.
As a result, the Spanish stopper has been fined a week’s wages and was dropped to the bench for Wednesday night’s 2-0 win over Spurs.
But speaking after the game, Sarri insisted the £71m-goalkeeper’s young age gives him the benefit of the doubt for this particular mistake.
“We cannot kill him. When you are young you can make mistakes,” Sarri said.
Meanwhile, Chelsea confirmed Kepa will remain No.1 with a post on their official Twitter account.
The tweet read: “Sarri says that Kepa will play again in one of the next two games and remains his No.1 goalkeeper, even though he was put on the bench tonight.”
W is for Willy Caballero.
pic.twitter.com/UhS2pcOEC5
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) February 27, 2019
Caballero’s clean sheet at Stamford Bridge was Chelsea’s fifth at home in all competitions with the Argentine between the sticks, while Wednesday’s game was also the first time in 179 Premier League games under Mauricio Pochettino where Spurs didn’t register at least one shot on target.
Chelsea face London rivals, Fulham on Sunday.
Sarri sends a message to Chelsea players
Despite confirming Kepa will be back in goal for Chelsea before long, Sarri believes his decision will ‘send a message’ to the rest of his squad regarding their future conduct.
Speaking prior to the clash with Spurs, the Italian was asked whether Kepa would dropped.
“I don’t know, I have to decide,” he answered. “Maybe yes. Maybe no. I think he is fit. I have to decide for my group. I want to send a message to my group.”
Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Spurs keeps the Blues three points behind fourth-placed Arsenal with what could be a vital game in hand over the Gunners.
The post Sarri confirms Chelsea No.1 after Caballero’s record-breaking clean sheet vs Spurs appeared first on Squawka News.
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