Alan Shearer cannot believe that Chelsea are in a position where they had to start Conor Gallagher and Cole Palmer as forwards against Arsenal over the weekend.

Cole Palmer started up front, while Conor Gallagher also played in quite an attacking position, and Shearer has now expressed his shock at that on The Rest Is Football podcast.

The Blues did have a natural centre-forward on the day in Nicolas Jackson, but he was only able to make the bench for the 2-2 draw.

Alan Shearer puzzled by Mauricio Pochettino's use of Cole Palmer and Conor Gallagher After all of the money Chelsea have spent recently, Shearer cannot believe Pochettino's side did not start with a recognised No.9 at the weekend.

Speaking on The Rest Is Football, the Newcastle United legend said: "How can you spend that amount of money and then go in with Gallagher and Palmer as two forwards or 10s?

"I know Jackson was on the bench. I think they are improving and Pochettino is doing a good job."

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Mauricio Pochettino's Arsenal tactics a one-off Honestly, we do not expect to see Palmer leading Chelsea's attack too often going forward.

Jackson has just had surgery on his wrist, Broja was not fit enough to play and Christopher Nkunku is still out injured.

Ultimately, Pochettino had to be a bit flexible and it almost worked, with a bad 10 minutes being the thing to cost Chelsea all three points in the end.

You would now expect Jackson to return to Chelsea's starting XI when the Blues take on Brentford this Saturday.

The Senegal international has started six of his side's Premier League games in the current campaign and has only missed one top-flight match because of suspension. He has scored three goals in total since arriving from Villarreal in the summer.