Frank Lampard will be without the service of Christian Pulisic for the clash against Manchester United while Tammy Abraham remains a doubt for Chelsea.
Chelsea have had things not going their way for a while, with the gap between them and other top four hopefuls narrowing with each passing gameweek. Frank Lampard will be hopeful of halting their winless streak of 3 Premier League games while also exacting revenge against Manchester United for the 4-0 drubbing in the season opener.
Lampard, though, is in a pickle as far as squad options are concerned. The Chelsea manager did drop Kepa Arrizabalaga before the winter break and will hope that the Spaniard has learnt his lesson. Kepa should start in goal, with the centre-back pairing of Antonio Rudiger and Fikayo Tomori. Reece James should be on the right, with Cesar Azpilicueta on the left side of the back four.
In midfield, there are a couple of ways Chelsea could line up. Lampard could opt for a 4-2-3-1 setup, which will see him have to sacrifice Mateo Kovacic. Alternatively, Lampard could for a midfield three of N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho, which would see him either drop Mason Mount or shift him out wide, with Callum Hudson-Odoi making way.
Lampard provided updates on Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Christian Pulisic in the pre-match conference, stating that the Manchester United game will come too early for both of them.
“Christian trained with the Under-23s today. which will hopefully be for a short period and we’ll factor him back into our training soon but he won’t be fit [for United]. Ruben won’t be fit for this game. He’s getting closer, training a lot and he just needs more match fitness to be in consideration but it’s great to have him nearly back.”
We believe Lampard will go for a 4-3-3 setup, which means Mason Mount should be on the left, with Willian on the right. As far as the forward line is concerned, both Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud are doubts for the Manchester United clash. Lampard stated that Tammy will be subject to more fitness tests to judge if he is fit enough to start on Monday night.
“Tammy is still feeling the effects, we’ve had to take him out of training a couple of days this week. He trained today so we’re hopeful but he’ll be assessed over the weekend.”
Tammy Abraham is likely to make it in time to start for Chelsea against Manchester United.
Predicted Chelsea Starting XI: Kepa; James, Tomori, Rudiger, Azpilicueta; Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic; Willian, Abraham, Mount
