The World Cup winner has been playing in a more advanced role with the Blues this season following the summer arrival of Jorginho.
But Alan Shearer believes Sarri has made a mistake in changing the balance of his side.
David Luiz was at fault for all three goals as Chelsea were thumped by Tottenham on Saturday 3-0 in the Premier League.
And Shearer believes that was a direct result of Kante not being the defensive shield in front of the back four.
The Newcastle hero feels Jorginho is nowhere near the standard the diminutive Frenchman has set in recent seasons.
He told The Sun: “Why Maurizio Sarri is not playing N’Golo Kante in front of his back four baffles me.
“Without the little French dynamo in that hole, tidying up, tracking runners, it leaves the Chelsea central defenders David Luiz and Antonio Rudiger massively exposed — as Spurs showed to such devastating effect on Saturday night.
“Leicester City won the league with Wes Morgan and Robert Huth as their centre-half pairing. Decent defenders but neither are particularly quick.
“But their deficiencies were expertly covered up by Kante — the best defensive midfielder in the world bar none. Jorginho is not in the same class.
“Kante is wasted playing where he did against Spurs, higher up the park and to the right. He is not an attacking midfielder.
“I know Sarri worked with Jorginho at Napoli and trusts him in that holding position but he had a poor night at Wembley.”
The defeat for Chelsea leaves the Blues fourth in the Premier League, seven points behind leaders Manchester City.
Next up for Sarri’s side is a clash with PAOK Salonika in the Europa League on Thursday.
After the 3-0 defeat to Tottenham, Eden Hazard admitted Chelsea were simply not good enough at Wembley.
“We didn’t play a good game and everybody could see that,” he said.
“We started the game very badly and conceded two goals early. Against this kind of team, when you are 2-0 down, it is hard to come back. We tried but it was not enough.
“It is hard to start a game after 15 minutes when we have conceded two goals.
“We tried, but then we pushed and conceded another one at the start of the second half.
“We had a bad game and we just need to forget about this and move forward. We need to analyse everything and then maybe talk together, and try to win again.”
