Maurizio Sarri’s team selection for yesterday’s game against Brighton surprised a lot of people, with the Italian manager going with Eden Hazard as a false 9 for the second game in a row.
That meant Olivier Giroud on the bench, and Alvaro Morata out of the squad – all for the second week running.
It was a move that made sense against Manchester City, who were bound to dominate possessions. But against Brighton, who were going to sit a lot deeper and let us have the ball, was it such a wise call?
People have been assuming that it was a voluntary call, but if Alvaro Morata’s injury picked up in midweek is actually serious, maybe Sarri feels forced into this change somewhat? Knowing that he has no second striker to come off the bench may have swung the balance for him in favour of using this setup.
We wait to see what happens when Sarri has a full team to pick from.
