Frank Lampard, who is returning to the club for a second term as manager after being named the club’s interim manager until the end of the season, will take command of his first game for Chelsea against Wolves this weekend.
The Blues have had a difficult season and are currently positioned in the bottom part of the league table. Once Thomas Tuchel was fired, Graham Potter was hired. Nevertheless, the former Brighton manager struggled to motivate his overabundant team and was later replaced by Lampard.
Lampard even made a suggestion about the type of team he would start before the game against Wolves. When asked how he will choose his club, the former midfielder said, “I’ve been thinking about it a lot this morning and talked to individuals who are going to be helping me to do this job so I have my notion about where I want to go.
“Everything I do will only be done with an eye towards the future. I won’t do anything that will look backward. My own opinions are definitely valid.” That doesn’t reveal much about the team on which he will actually play, but it may suggest that he will be more inclined to pursue the concepts he developed during his first tenure than to rely on the existing framework.
Reece James will play his second straight game after overcoming a recent injury issue, while Mason Mount, who was temporarily replaced by Lampard, may be summoned back to the lineup. The right-back, Ben Chilwell, and Mateo Kovacic all started in Lampard’s final game in charge of Chelsea in 2021, and they will probably hold their spots in the starting lineup.
Arrizabalaga, the starting goalkeeper, may be benched after Lampard frequently preferred Edouard Mendy to the Spaniard during his first season at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea predicted XI: Mendy; James, Fofana, Koulibaly, Chilwell; Kovacic, Kante; Enzo, Mount, Felix; Havertz.