Chelsea tactical call left Tosin Adarabioyo out against Bournemouth

Chelsea left centre-back Tosin Adarabioyo out of the squad for their Premier League trip to Bournemouth, with the decision reported as a purely tactical choice rather than anything related to injury.

Wesley Fofana returned to the starting XI after sitting out the previous game as part of a minutes-management plan, while young defenders Josh Acheampong, Benoît Badiashile and Jorrel Hato all took centre-back spots on the bench ahead of Tosin.

Before the match, head coach Enzo Maresca admitted in his press conference that he regretted not starting teenage defender Acheampong in the prior fixture. He also appeared to single out Tosin’s level in the 3-1 defeat to Leeds, where the defender’s performance came under scrutiny and contributed to this selection shake-up.

Across the season, Tosin had already featured in 13 games in all competitions for Chelsea, logging 872 minutes on the pitch before being omitted from the Bournemouth squad.

The match at the Vitality Stadium went ahead with Robert Sánchez, Trevoh Chalobah and Fofana anchoring Chelsea’s back line, underlining that Maresca’s pecking order at centre-back had shifted away from Tosin for this encounter.