When Thomas Tuchel suggested that Trevoh Chalobah was coming into the team as a direct replacement for the suspended Kalidou Koulibaly, it seemed the German coach was set to stick with his favoured three central defenders and utlise Ruben Loftus-Cheek at wing-back once again.
When Paul Tierney blew the whistle to get the match underway, it quickly became apparent that was not the case. Chalobah was on the right of Thiago Silva and the defensive pair only had Reece James and Marc Cucurella for company. Loftus-Cheek was further upfield ahead of Conor Gallagher and Jorginho, with Chelsea appearing quite forward-minded in their approach in a 4-2-2-2.
The system was shortlived as Gallagher was sent off after 28 minutes, and Tuchel had reverted to a back three by the time the halfway interval was over. While Chelsea needed to improve following their defeat to Leeds at Elland Road, the change in system was to benefit Raheem Sterling, though his two goals did not come until the second period.
