Chelsea’s clash with Liverpool: A Huge Challenge to Lampard.

Chelsea opened the Premier League 2020/21 season on Monday night with a 3-1 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion. Although in their first game of the season, the Blues were nowhere near their peak, the outcome was the right way for Frank Lampard to continue.

However, the Blues are having a huge challenge this weekend as they host Liverpool champions at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Although Lampard ‘s side is still struggling to gel as a team, Jurgen Klopp has one side that has undoubtedly developed into a title-winning team over the past few years.

So Lampard ‘s challenge will be to try to get the best out of his squad, with little time to plan. There was almost one new formation from the Blues boss for the game at the AMEX Stadium.

Chelsea occasionally set up a 4-2-2-2 formation, with little width, which sometimes changed to 4-3-2-1 or 4-4-2. If Frank Lampard calls for pick, Chelsea may have a new penalty against Liverpool. Lampard will always get a 4-3-3 last season with huge games like Liverpool, and with the Reds’ defensive hazard, that might be where he heads again.

That would bring up a logistical challenge for the Blues manager, however, as it would see the return of Mateo Kovacic, the player of the year last season. Following the red card he picked up in the FA Cup final, the Croatian avoided the Brighton victory due to suspension.

But now the 26-year-old is back, and for the critical game in West London, he should be in the starting XI. If Kovacic starts, then Jorginho is likely to step out of the squad, with N’Golo Kante retaining his position.

It could mean moving Mason Mount into the midfield three, with Kai Havertz joining one side of Timo Werner and Christian Pulisic starting on the left if he’s healthy.

But for Lampard it would be a huge boost to get Kovacic back and a player they seemed to lack on Monday night. It would bring another challenge to the Blues and bind the football line with his ability to pass across the midfield with his feet at his ball.

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But going for the 4-2-3-1 for consistency would theoretically free up too much for the Blues and allow too much space for Liverpool to abuse.

That is something that Lampard ‘s side would potentially aim to manipulate with the sheer speed of Werner and those around him on the counter assault.