Chelsea’s 1-1 draw at Liverpool at Anfield was notable less for the result than for the way Chelsea set up. Enzo Fernández played as an auxiliary left winger in a 3-4-3, with Marc Cucurella supplying almost all the width on that side. Cole Palmer thought he had put Chelsea ahead, but his goal was disallowed for offside in the build-up.
Why the left side mattered
The shape change is the point. Dom Smith of the Standard described McFarlane’s solution as a 3-4-3 with Fernández wide-left and Cucurella providing the width, and that is the clearest read on why Chelsea looked different here. It was not a generic wide overload. It put Fernández in a more advanced lane without asking him to be the main source of width.
That matters because Chelsea have often needed someone else to hold the line on that side. With Cucurella stretching the pitch, Fernández could arrive in the box or attack the half-space with more freedom. The equaliser fits that picture too. Ryan Gravenberch scored first for Liverpool in the sixth minute, and Fernández levelled in the 35th.
The early damage still matters. It was the ninth time Chelsea have conceded in the opening ten minutes of a Premier League game this season, with only Burnley conceding more, but the broader takeaway from Anfield was about the attacking structure rather than the familiar defensive wobble.
Fernández keeps producing in McFarlane's setup
Fernández’s goal also continued a productive run under McFarlane. Dom Smith noted that, across McFarlane’s two stints in charge, Fernández has found the net in three of his five matches. That is the sort of output Chelsea have been trying to unlock from him, and the role he occupied at Anfield looks designed to keep that going.
The numbers back that up. Fernández has 3 goals in his last 5 matches under McFarlane, and 9 Premier League goals in 34 appearances this season. Those are not just tidy figures for a midfielder, they are evidence that Chelsea may have found a more direct way to get their best attacking midfielder into scoring positions.
The larger point is that the draw can be read as a tactical test that worked. Chelsea did not come away with a win, but the left flank setup, Fernández’s role, and Cucurella’s job in holding the width all pointed in the same direction. If McFarlane keeps using it, this looks more like a usable attacking blueprint than a one-off tweak.
The next question is whether Chelsea stick with it in their next league match, because the Anfield evidence says the shape deserves another run.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
