Chelsea: Why Thomas Tuchel subbed off Saul Niguez during Watford win

Saul, who joined Chelsea on loan from Atletico Madrid over the summer, was handed only his second Premier League start at Vicarage Road.

But the Spaniard struggled in the first half as Emmanuel Dennis cancelled out Mason Mount’s opener and was replaced by Thiago Silva at the interval.

Saul was also taken off at half-time on his Premier League debut as he struggles to adapt to English football and make a success of his Chelsea loan.

Watford were the better team in the opening 45 minutes and Chelsea continued to struggle after half-time but still secured the three points thanks to second-half substitute Hakim Ziyech.

Speaking after the 2-1 win, Tuchel was asked where Saul goes from here and said: ‘I don’t know.

‘We had two options. We could have taken Marcos [Alonso] off and try Saul as a wing-back, I had this in my mind before the game if something happened to Marcos but then I thought it wasn’t the right match to try.

‘[Saul’s sub] was to change the shape a little bit and have Thiago on the pitch with the quality of organise and have Trevoh [Chalobah] on the number six who is more physical.

‘Trevoh got an injury and then we had Ruben on the single six. It was a tactical decision and from there we go.’

More to follow…

For more stories like this, check our sport page.