The reasons for Chelsea’s formation shift not just a question of tactics

Calum McFarlane has switched his team to a back three for today’s game – but it’s not necessarily a tactical decision.

Chelsea’s team for today’s game at Anfield is totally shorn of attacking options.

Estevao, Pedro Neto, Jamie Gittens and Alejandro Garnacho are our full complement of left wingers, and all of them are hurt.

This has prompted a formation change from Calum McFarlane, who has taken the change to bring Levi Colwill in for his first start of the season after the central defender recovered from injury.

Colwill plays in back three

The defender gets more protection as part of a back three. The width in the team will come from the wing backs, rather than the wingers.

The attacking line has Cole Palmer and Enzo Fernandez supporting the striker.

That means Liam Delap still can’t get in the team even with this many injuries. We thought he’d lead the lien with Joao Pedro dropping deeper, but instead the England U21 international is still on the bench.

This whole team is basically a question of McFarlane fighting fires rather than trying anything clever. We really think that the formation is just a way of using his resources more effectively rather than a tactical decision to try to beat Liverpool.

You can see Chelsea’s full team for the game in the post here, featuring some interesting choices from McFarlane.

Joe Cole has suggested that Chelsea could bring in two veteran free transfers this summer to help the rest of their squad.