Chelsea’s team for this afternoon’s derby game against Tottenham sees Thomas Tuchel change his formation once again.
Injuries and rotation have meant we’ve seen more variety in the last week weeks than we did in the first 11 months of Tuchel’s time at Chelsea, and the more that he has to see Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso trying to fill in at wing back, the more he seems to be trying to find solutions that avoid that necessity entirely.
Today it looks like Malang Sarr at left back, with Azpi on the right. Both are comfortable slotting in to a back 3, it could be lopsided either way, with Callum Hudson-Odoi and Hakim Ziyech providing the attacking width for the team – but also capable of dropping back to protect their full backs.
Effectively this system sees a centre back replaced by an extra midfield player, and it will be interesting to see whether Mason Mount is playing as part of a midfield 3 with Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic, or whether we see him pushed up right alongside Romelu Lukaku.
Either way, the change of shape could well catch Tottenham out, if all goes to plan.
