After a hard-earned three points in the West London derby on Sunday against Fulham, Lampard’s Chelsea visit the King Power Stadium to face high flying Leicester City. Brendan Rodger’s men are unbeaten so far in 2021 and can move to the top of the league standings with a win on Tuesday night. The Blues avoided a fourth straight league defeat on the road thanks to Mason Mount’s first goal in the Premier League since September.
The pressure is still on Lampard despite this win as he looks to bring his side back into contention for a top four finish. For this midweek fixture, Lampard is expected to make multiple changes to the team that started against Fulham. N’golo Kante has served his suspension but is out with a hamstring injury.
Let’s take a look at how Frank Lampard might set his Chelsea team up for this big challenge against Brendan Rodgers Leicester City side.
THE 4-3-3
The 4-3-3 has been Lampard’s first choice this season as Edouard Mendy will most likely retain his place between the sticks despite looking shaky. Lampard will probably turn to his favoured back four of Chilwell, Silva, Zouma and James to counter the pace of the dangerous Jamie Vardy and Harvey Barnes. Kante’s absence means Jorginho may retain his place in the heart of midfield and will have to be very alert to the threat posed by James Maddison.
Mateo Kovacic is expected to retain his place in the midfield alongside the brilliant Mason Mount who has been Chelsea most energetic player this season. Callum Hudson-Odoi might earn a place ahead of Christian Pulisic on the left wing after some promising displays in his recent games. Hakim Ziyech would be looking to get back to his best and cause havoc in the Leicester box with his crosses from out wide and from set-pieces.
Finally, upfront Olivier Giroud may be replaced by their top scorer Tammy Abraham given the small recovery time for the game.
THE 4-2-3-1
The 4-2-3-1 is an alternate formation that Lampard may deploy to provide more cover from the midfielders at the back to enable the forward runs by the fullbacks. Chelsea have been heavily reliant this season on crosses from either flanks to penetrate the opposition box. With Jorginho lacking the speed of Kante, Kovacic will need to use his pace to make recovery runs to help him in defensive duties.
Lampard has demanded more goals from Mount and this formation gives him the freedom to carry the ball into the final third of the pitch without worrying about his defensive duties. This system will bring in a balance to the Chelsea side, which they seem to be lacking for a while now. The Londoners simply have to get something out of this game to boost their depleted morals.
Leicester City have had a stuttering form at home this season but are currently enjoying a superb run and have realistic chances to fight for the title. We should look forward to an evenly contested game on Tuesday night.
