With the Champions League spots all but out of reach, the Blues needed a win over Aston Villa to keep their hunt for Europa League football alive.
However, when all was said and done, Chelsea shipped two goals without reply vs Unai Emery’s side.
This came despite the fact the west Londoners were playing five at the back. However, only one of those defenders – Kalidou Koulibaly – is a natural centre-back.
Graham Potter explained his decision following the game. He said: “Well, we wanted to attack, we wanted to use Marc and Reece as two laterals, that’s where the space would be and they can construct attacks well. I thought we got some good opportunities from an attacking perspective, won the ball back, high as well. I think we had a 1v1 with Mischa a couple of times. It’s an error for the first goal and whenever there’s an error there’s always something you can do better.”
The decision did not pay off, though, with Koulibaly’s poor form annoying Ben Chilwell during the match.
Communication between Koulibaly and Marc Cucurella was tested, and the former was berated by Chilwell when he waited too long to deliver a pass for the wingback.
