Thomas Tuchel’s team today has some interesting selections, and the boss spoke to Chelsea’s official app before the game to explain a couple of surprise absences.
The Blues have returned to a back 4, and we expected that to mean that Cesar Azpilicueta would get a start at right back while Reece James is out.
But Azpi isn’t in the squad at all today – and Tuchel revealed before kick off that the Spaniard has Covid.
Meanwhile Romelu Lukaku might not have been expected to start, but his absence from the bench is unexpected. Tuchel confirmed that the Belgian is injured.
That really reduces our options both in attack and defence today, and given how poorly the team has played in their last two games, that’s a bit of a blow.
Tuchel will have to work his magic once again to get a result against a really well drilled Southampton side today.
