Thomas Tuchel has taken charge of Chelsea earlier this week and his first game was a draw against Wolves in the midweek fixture. The game saw Chelsea complete about 850 passes which is an indication of how Chelsea might play under Tuchel this season. Next up for Chelsea, Burnley wait for the Blues as they are in red-hot form after victories against Liverpool and Aston Villa in their previous games.
It was an interesting system that Tuchel used against Wolves as the Chelsea side played with three men at the back. Hudson-Odoi and even Pulisic played as the wing-backs in the game and the 3-4-3 might be used again. It will be interesting to see how Tuchel starts his Chelsea side after he got to spend some time with the Blues’ squad.
Let us now have a look at how Thomas Tuchel might set his Chelsea side up against Burnley in the Premier League at Turf Moor.
THE 3-4-3
The 3-4-3 is the system Thomas Tuchel used in his debut against Wolves but despite the goalless draw, he is expected to stick to this system against Burnley. Edouard Mendy is likely to retain his place along with the back three of Antonio Rudiger, Thiago Silva and Cesar Azpilicueta. Calum Hudson-Odoi, who was undoubtedly Chelsea’s best player against Wolves is expected to partner Ben Chilwell in the wing back positions.
In the absence of the World Cup winning midfielder N’golo Kante, Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic are expected to start as the dual midfield pivot. They will be looking to monopolize possession like they did against Wolves in the midweek fixture in the Premier League.
Christian Pulisic is likely to replace Havertz on the left side of the attack. Timo Werner may replace Giroud as Tuchel would like to bring him back to his firing form.
THE 4-3-3
The 4-3-3 was Lampard’s preferred system this season and Tuchel may employ this to enable attacking football against a Burnley side who are expected to sit back and defend. Mason Mount may feature ahead of Havertz in the midfield where he has excelled this season. Reece James may be preferred over the experienced Azpilicueta as his partnership with Hakim Ziyech on the right side can cause some real trouble to the opposition.
Burnley have always been reliant on set pieces and crosses from out wide for most of their goals this season. Chelsea have been decent while defending set pieces this season but need to be at their sharpest to deny the likes of Mark Wood and Ben Mee. On the contrary, Thiago Silva needs to be at his commanding best to marshall the Chelsea defence.
THE 4-2-3-1
Getting the struggling German duo of Werner and Havertz to settle and back amongst the goals is one of the reasons for the appointment of Tuchel. The 4-2-3-1 is the system that can help Tuchel bring the best out of Havertz by playing him in the No.10, where he was very successful at Bayer Leverkusen. Chelsea will surely be favourites to win this game despite the gap in form between the two sides.
