It’s almost astonishing that it took Chelsea this long to play their youngest starting lineup in history, considering that the team is primarily composed of ridiculously expensive embryonic talents.

But Mauricio Pochettino relied on youth, fielding a starting lineup with an average age of just 23 years and 21 days against Crystal Palace on Wednesday night, without the services of 39-year-old defensive general Thiago Silva.

The west London team did this to become the youngest to attend a Premier League match since Manchester United – also against Crystal Palace – in 2017, when Jose Mourinho chose to start the children in a 2-0 win at Old Trafford.

Though they were defeated 1-0 on the last day of the season, Steve McLaren’s Middlesbrough, who fielded a team with an average age of just 20 years and 181 against Fulham in 2006, holds the distinction of being the youngest team to have ever participated in the league.

The success—or lack thereof—of every Premier League team’s youngest starting lineup is examined here by Mail Sport.

The starting eleven are: Jackson, Maatsen, Nkunku, Mudryk, Colwill, Caicedo, Disasi, Gusto, and Disasi.

At times, Mauricio Pochettino’s team appeared just as inexperienced and youthful as their club record-breаking average, so it came as no surprise when top-tier veteran Thiago Silva entered the game late to help Chelsea secure the crucial victory at home.

The 23-year-olds Reece James and Conor Gallagher are starting to become accustomed to being the team’s elder statesmen, as the Blues lead the Premier League in the youngest average age per squad table.

In the closing minutes of the game, Pochettino gave academy youngster Alfie Gilchrist his first-team debut, not content with only one goal.