Frank Lampard will largely remain unchanged as Chelsea lock horns with Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Chelsea have a daunting task at hand as they look to take on the in-form Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday, in an attempt to put an end to their disappointing start to the campaign.
Defence has been a major problem for the Blues over the past couple of years or so, although the club did manage to hold off Sevilla in a 0-0 draw in midweek.
Manager Frank Lampard even stressed the importance of that clean sheet, during his pre-match press conference, stating, “A clean sheet always gives confidence. That’s great, but it’s very simplistic to look at games and say ‘that game you conceded so these things are all wrong’ and ‘that game because it was a clean sheet these things are all right”
Lampard, therefore, should have no reason to make any defensive changes to the side that secured a goalless draw with Sevilla, as the likes of Reece James and Ben Chilwell continue to operate at fullback, providing support to the central defensive duo of Kurt Zouma and the experienced Thiago Silva.
Kepa Arrizabalaga is a fresh absentee for Chelsea, with the Spaniard struggling with a shoulder injury. It should guarantee a place for Edouard Mendy in between the sticks, although Lampard also has the option of Petr Cech after sensationally calling him back from retirement earlier this week.
In midfield, Jorginho could potentially be benched, having been a regular fixture in the Chelsea lineup despite such fixture congestion. However, the Italian has been excellent form so far and it might not be the ideal decision from Lampard’s perspective, to replace him with Mateo Kovacic.
Jorginho, therefore, could continue operating in the double-pivot alongside N’Golo Kante, though these two are more than expected to receive additional support from the number ten Kai Havertz, especially during the build-up phases.
Havertz is slowly starting to build a good partnership with the likes of Mason Mount and Timo Werner, both of who are also guaranteed starters this weekend as fellow new signing Hakim Ziyech is still not fit enough to make the starting lineup just yet.
It essentially means that Havertz, Mount and Christian Pulisic should continue to form the creative trifecta, with Werner spearheading the Chelsea attack. It will be interesting to see whether or not the German can add to the two goals he scored against Southampton.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Mendy; James, Silva, Zouma, Chilwell; Kante, Jorginho; Pulisic, Havertz, Mount; Werner
