Chelsea made the perfect start to the new Premier League season on Saturday afternoon.

Entering the new league campaign off the back of a disappointing defeat in the Community Shield, the Blues made the trip to the John Smith's Stadium and eventually ran away 3-0 victors.

N'Golo Kante opened the scoring with a rare goal, before Jorginho bagged a debut goal from the penalty spot and Pedro rounded off proceedings in the 80th minute.

It was a solid performance from the Blues and will no doubt prove a decent confidence boost going into their tricky second fixture against Arsenal.

And as World Cup heroes return to fitness and summer signings become eligible, what changes will Maurizio Sarri make for his first match at Stamford Bridge?

Barkley's performance vs Huddersfield

Well, there will be some major debate around the role of Eden Hazard who is continuing to work his way back to fitness but enjoyed a superb cameo against Huddersfield.

Perhaps most interestingly, though, there are concerns about how Chelsea will line up their midfield trio.

Forgotten man Ross Barkley was given the nod for the Premier League opener, having impressed in pre-season and making the starting XI for the Community Shield.

Chelsea fans had a message on Twitter

It's a major show of confidence from Sarri considering Barkley's Chelsea career had faded into obscurity and there was even speculation he could fill the so-called Marek Hamsik role.

And Chelsea fans had the chance to have a good look at him against Huddersfield.

They certainly weren't outraged by Barkley's performance but, frankly, it only made them excited for summer signing Matteo Kovacic to become available.

As far as supporters are concerned, they simply can't see Barkley maintaining his place and they really don't want him to.

Check out the reaction on Twitter from Saturday:

You can't really blame the fans for feeling this way.

Barkley enjoyed some promising performances on pre-season but really needed to take these opportunities to vindicate playing ahead of Cesc Fabregas, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Kovacic.

So far, he's failed to do so and Real Madrid's Kovacic could soon take his place in the midfield trio alongside Jorginho and Kante.

Chelsea face an uphill battle to reach the top four this season so Sarri will need to be ruthless with his team selection and it could be too little, too late from Barkley.

Nevertheless, Kovacic has struggled for a full pre-season this summer given Croatia's appearance in the World Cup final and his enthusiasm to wriggle out of Real Madrid.

As a result, Barkley may get another opportunity in the days to come but he's lost the patience of the fans already. Sorry, Ross.

Do you think Barkley deserves to start for Chelsea? Have your say in the comments section below.