'Kante with Jorginho could work'

Regarded as one of the best defensive midfielders in the game, World Cup winner N'Golo Kante has been deployed in a more attacking role for Chelsea at the start of the current campaign. 

Instead manager Maurizio Sarri has preferred to use compatriot Jorginho in the holding role for the Stamford Bridge side. 

After his side's 3-1 derby loss to Tottenham at the weekend, Sarri insisted that while Kante is a great defensive minded player, the team style is more suited to the likes of Jorginho or Cesc Fabregas occupying the holding midfielder role.

However former Stoke City defender Danny Higginbotham has denied this claim, and said that Sarri must be open minded to alternating the two players in order to get the best out of his side. 

Higginbotham told the 'Premier League Daily': "I understand where Sarri is coming from because he wants to play a different way but against the bigger teams it could be an option to have Jorginho and Kante.  I think if we look at Kante, in my mind, the defensive midfielder of Jorginho is very different to the defensive midfielder of Kante."

He explained: "In terms of the playmaker that Jorginho is, he is afforded space because the likes of Kante, [Mateo] Kovacic and [Ross] Barkley move further on which creates space for him. But he does not have that defensive side that can track back. Kante is just always aware, when the play breaks down, Kante thinks can we win it back?"

Former defender Higginbotham thinks that that in matches against top opposition, Sarri will have to adapt if he is to start getting positive results.

He added: "We are going to play with one attacker going forward to join with the three forward-thinking players and we will have two sitters. If you have your two sitters, what you do then, if you have players say Tom Cairney who wants to drift into this area that is not a problem. Because you can still go and have that protection."