One of the surprises on today’s team-sheet for Chelsea was Kurt Zouma. The France defender was selected to play in a back four alongside Fikayo Tomori, when it looked more likely that Andreas Christensen was going to be the man who played with the first choice Tomori.
Instead Zouma gets another chance, continuing the rotation of defenders that has seen Tomori, Zouma, Christensen, Rudiger, Guehi and Azpilicueta all rotate slots as Frank switches from 343 to 433 and has senior defender Rudiger injured for long periods.
Tomori has emerged as a clear favourite, and is performing every game, and with Rudiger out it seemed like Christensen had established himself. Today’s lineup shows that Lampard’s is far from set on who makes this team, and least in defensive areas.
But Tomori showed errors today, as did Zouma. It seems none of them is quite ready to be first choice yet.
These two will continue to battle it out, and even after that, Rudiger will return and throw the whole thing into flux again.
