Victor Moses was an unused substitute as Huddersfield Town held Chelsea to a 1-1 draw in Wednesday’s fixture at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte opted for Davide Zappacosta, Cesc Fabregas, N’Golo Kante and Marcos Alonso for the midfield role.
Laurent Depoitre opened the scoring for the Terriers early in the second half and although Marcos Alonso equalised in fortuitous circumstances, David Wagner’s team held out to ensure that their survival efforts did not go to the final day of the campaign.
As for Chelsea, they can only secure a top-four place in the standings with victory at Newcastle United on Sunday, coupled with a Brighton & Hove win against Liverpool at Anfield.
Soon after the restart, Rudiger headed over from a Willian free kick as Chelsea threatened to regain control but moments later, Huddersfield went in front with their first shot on goal.
Depoitre ran onto a long ball and got there ahead of goalkeeper Willy Caballero, who was left injured after a collison with the forward, but the Belgian’s challenge was fair and after Rudiger slipped in front of him, the ball was tapped into the net from 12 yards.
Going behind led to Antonio Conte introducing both Olivier Giroud and Eden Hazard but it was a fortuitous goal from Alonso which got Chelsea back on level terms.
A cross from the right was cleared into the face of the Spaniard and despite not knowing anything about it, the ball found the bottom corner of Lossl’s net with the goalkeeper left with no chance to react.
The Chelsea pressure which followed was relentless but the home side were struggling to create clear-cut openings as Huddersfield packed each of their 10 outfield players behind the ball.