Chelsea's performance against Newcastle Break down

Thomas Tuchel was forced to change his plan after Mason Mount went down with illness on the morning of the matchday. Instead of switching to a 3-5-2 formation, he replaced Mount in the front three with Hakim Ziyech.

Unfortunately, this change did not work: Ziyech was busy and tried to make things happen but could not. N'Golo Kante also struggled against a team that sat deep and never let him show his best qualities.

Only after these two players were subbed off, Chelsea succeeded in breaking Newcastle's defence down. Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Ross Barkley, the two players who came on, contributed to some of the goals.

So, we can say that Tuchel's starting XI plan did not quite work, but his substitution did.

Tactics score: 7/10

Truth be told, Newcastle did not really force Chelsea to defend at all. The Magpies only had the ball for 21 per cent of the time and made just one shot on target.

Still, Thomas Tuchel was very complimentary after the match about his players' work off the ball.

We have no reason to disagree with the boss - but have to mention that this is not the game to judge the Blues' defence by.

Defending score: 9/10

Now, here's where the main issue was for Tuchel's side for the whole first half and the start of the second.

Chelsea predictably had all the time in the world on the ball. However, they managed to create remarkably few chances that required big saves from Karl Darlow.

Ziyech, a player who was signed to be the playmaker in the team, was the most divisive figure among the fans during the game. He lacked precision in a decisive moment, be it a shot or a pass.

In the end, it required Reece James' netbuster to break the deadlock which says little for the team's overall creative efforts.

Creativity score: 4/10

In previous years, such a game would've had 0-0 written all over it - or worse.

Luckily, the team that has gained winning experience under Tuchel has also learned to not give up.

The Blues kept pushing, kept working off the ball and kept looking for their chances to strike until James' opener.

While it's way too early to describe Chelsea as the Premier League winners-in-waiting, the champions' mindset seems to already be there.

Mentality score: 9/10

Overall rating: 8/10