Christian Eriksen scored as Brentford produced a stunning performance to beat Chelsea 4-1 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon. The Blues face Real Madrid on Wednesday and were looking to be on their way to an expected win, but the Bees rallied back to produce a scoreline described by Jeff Stelling as the 'result of the season'.
Thomas Tuchel played a 4-3-3 system, dropping his usual three at the back system and suffering a massively unexpected loss against their West London rivals. Paul Merson was watching the match for Soccer Saturday and offered his view on the result, saying: "They took the game to Chelsea. I thought in the first 10 to 15 minutes they were very good, then I thought Chelsea got back in the game."
The former Arsenal man was glowing in his praise of Brentford but also criticised Chelsea, and he added: "Chelsea huffed and puffed and Havertz had a couple of chances - but 4-1, wow! I didn't think I'd see that score on this show to pull that score out."
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Chelsea remain in a strong position to reach the top four, eight points ahead of Tottenham in fifth place, and Merson says that the Blues could be looking over their shoulders. He explained: "It could all change in the next 48 hours if Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham all win - then I think it's a different game."
Tuchel played with a back four in the defeat, and Merson gave his opinion on the move, saying how he thinks Chelsea could have set up their team differently. The former Arsenal and England man said: "Chelsea are not the same team when they don't play a back three - they played Azpilicueta, Alonso and then Rudiger and Thiago Silva in the middle as a back four. I don't think Chelsea are good like that, and I think they need to play with a three at the back."
