"Human rights violation from Tuchel" "Never been more confused" - Chelsea fans lose their minds as 26-year-old earns surprise start for crucial Tottenham clash

The Englishman is predominantly a central midfielder who has found himself on the bench for the majority of Tuchel's reign at the club.

He did manage 40 appearances last season, scoring a goal and contributing five assists.

But all those appearances came from midfield and it is a new role for the former Fulham and Crystal Palace loanee against Tottenham today.

Meanwhile, Edouard Mendy starts in goal for the Blues with a back-three partnership of Reece James, Thiago Silva and Kalidou Koulibaly.

There had been much speculation over Marc Cucurella's arrival at Chelsea with questions over where he would play.

The Spaniard will play in his preferred left-wing back role with N'Golo Kante and Jorginho in midfield.

Mason Mount, Kai Havertz and Raheem Sterling are Tuchel's side's front three for the huge clash with Spurs.

Tuchel's decision to start Loftus-Cheek at right-wing back may be what sways the game in either one's favor.

Here are some reactions from Blues fans on Twitter at the sight of Loftus-Cheek being selected at right-wing back:

Tottenham could put down a marker against Chelsea

There have been murmurs of a potential title challenge from Antonio Conte's side this season following an impressive transfer window.

Spurs' signings of Yves Bissouma, Richarlison, Ivan Perisic and Djed Spence have brought a sense of excitement to the club about the season that beckons.

The season-opening 4-1 victory over Southampton only further enthused Tottenham fans, with the north London side now boasting strength in depth.

A confident performance and win over their London rivals Chelsea will surely see more shouts for them to be touted alongside Manchester City and Liverpool for the title.

But the Blues have the same intent as Conte's side do as they look to have a more significant season than last time out.

A third-placed finish doesn't sound too bad on the face of things, but given the UEFA Champions League winning campaign of 2021-22, it was a step back.

Chelsea also headed into that season with club-record signing Romelu Lukaku licking his lips at becoming the Stamford Bridge talisman.

However, the Belgian striker couldn't have the type of impact expected of a £97.8 million signing.

Having spent £200 million thus far, it will be intriguing to see what the Blues' side will look like once the transfer window closes on August 31.

About the author

Matthew is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who has been covering news, rumors and match reports for close to 3 years. Learning creative writing from University of Essex, he combined his skills and passion for football take up writing for the sport professionally.

Matthew always strives to go beyond a story and offer unique and lesser-known insights, while maintaining an unbiased tone in his articles. His reporting exploits at the company have helped him gain a humungous readership of 25 million, with one of his articles raking in a whopping 724,000 reads.

A Manchester United fan since childhood, Matthew admired Sir Alex Ferguson for his loyalty and brave coaching style. His favorite footballer is Thierry Henry, believing the Frenchman to be uniquely talented and charismatic. An ardent Three Lions fan, England's penalty shootout win over Colombia in 2018 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment of all time, and he believes that Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe will have a Ballon d’Or duopoly after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

He also follows his local EFL League Two clubs AFC Wimbledon and Sutton United, and spends his free time watching and writing about professional wrestling. He also likes to work out, watch movies and go for night outs.

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