Frank Lampard could recall Billy Gilmour and Timo Werner into the starting eleven when Chelsea play hosts to Luton Town on Sunday.
Frank Lampard will be once again under the microscope when his struggling Chelsea side take on Luton Town in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Sunday. The Blues must secure a victory after winning just three in their last ten matches in all competitions.
Yet, Lampard will have to keep an eye on the perhaps more important fixture against Wolves on Wednesday, meaning he may be forced to rest a few of his key players this weekend.
Fortunately for the west Londoners, they have been boosted by the return of one of FA Cup’s best performers in recent years in Olivier Giroud. “Olivier is fit. He trained with us today and he’s fine for the weekend,” Lampard confirmed during the pre-match press briefing.
However, it will be surprising to see the Frenchman spearheading the Chelsea attack against Luton. Instead, Timo Werner is eying a return to the starting eleven after being demoted to the bench in the last game.
The German is desperately looking for a goal following a difficult start to his career at Stamford Bridge and he will be hoping that the wide-attacking duo of Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi can provide him with the adequate supply in the final third this weekend.
In midfield, Lampard could ring in a few changes after confirming the absence of N’Golo Kante for this fixture.
“N’Golo on the other hand is not fit and won’t be available. He’s working outside on his own with the physios at the moment and we hope to have him back as soon as possible. We will have to see with N’Golo, as we don’t want to rush him, but we hope to have him back by next week,” the Chelsea boss said ahead of the game.
In addition to the injured Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Mason Mount are also unlikely to feature, though purely due to sporting reasons. As such, we may see the young Billy Gilmour operating in central midfield alongside Jorginho.
Finally, in the defensive unit, Lampard is expected to make wholesale changes to the backline that started against Leicester City. Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen are the likely candidates to replace Antonio Rudiger and Thiago Silva at the heart of the Chelsea defence while Cesar Azpilicueta and Emerson should operate as the full-backs, providing cover for Kepa Arrizabalaga in goal.