Thomas Tuchel’s teamsheet against Aston Villa has given Fantasy Premier League managers an early taste of his potential rotation policy this season.
Ahead of Tuesday's opening UEFA Champions League group match, Chelsea's head coach gave four players their first starts of the campaign in the 3-0 win over Villa: Thiago Silva (£5.4m), Callum Hudson-Odoi (£5.3m), Saul Niguez (£5.5m) and Hakim Ziyech (£7.4m).
Players such as Mason Mount (£7.5m), Cesar Azpilicueta (£6.0m) and Andreas Christensen (£5.0m) had started each of the Blues’ opening three Premier League matches, but they all dropped to the bench on Saturday.
Chelsea v Aston Villa highlights
This means that Marcos Alonso (£5.7m) and Antonio Rudiger (£5.5m) are the only outfield players who have been named in the starting XI in all four matches.
And, given Ben Chilwell (£5.7m) is still regarded as the first-choice left wing-back ahead of Alonso, investing in the Chelsea backline could prove frustrating.
Avoid the triple-up?
Tuchel’s weekend line-up suggests managers who are planning to bring in Chelsea assets for their strong schedule from Gameweek 7 should be wary of loading up on the full three-player quota.
According to the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), each of the Blues' five matches from that point score only two.
Romelu Lukaku (£11.6m) may be the one Chelsea outfield player who managers can rely on, as his hold-up play is the focal point of their attack.
The Belgian looks an outstanding captaincy option from Gameweek 7 onwards.
But if Tuchel continues to tinker with his XI, managers may decide to limit their investment in the Blues to avoid further disappointment.
Also in this series
Part 1: GW4 Lessons: Managers face Antonio dilemma
Part 2: FPL experts: What to do with Antonio and the forwards?
Remember, the Gameweek 5 deadline is at 18:30 BST on Friday 17 September.
