Here are your Cheslea evening headlines for Friday, September 18.
Lampard confirms four injury absences for Liverpool game
Chelsea have been dealt a blow in their preparations for Sunday’s meeting with Liverpool after manager Frank Lampard confirmed the Blues will be without four first-teamers through injury.
Lampard’s team managed without Thiago Silva, Ben Chilwell and Christian Pulisic in their season opener at Brighton & Hove Albion, while new signing Hakim Ziyech was not ready for a debut at the AMEX Stadium.
Pulisic suffered a setback in his recovery from an injury sustained in the FA Cup final in August, while there have also been concerns about new striker Timo Werner after he suffered a dead leg at Brighton.
Speaking before this weekend’s game, Lampard confirmed the four who missed that game will also be absent against Liverpool, but revealed Werner is available for selection.
“Chilwell is not ready for the game, neither is Christian Pulisic. We hope they will work well during the week,” the manager said.
“Hakim Ziyech is also not ready for the game. Werner is fit, though.
"Thiago has been training for the last three or four days, but Liverpool will come too soon for him."
Chelsea sit above the champions on goal difference after the first round of fixtures.
What Liverpool’s Leeds win tells Lampard about how he needs to adjust tactically
Both Liverpool and Chelsea got their respective seasons off to a winning start, though both teams had nervy moments along the way.
While Chelsea needed to survive a couple of close shaves in their 3-1 win at Brighton, Liverpool were thrice pegged back by newly promoted Leeds before finding a late winner.
There has been a pattern in the last couple of seasons, with teams finding a way through Liverpool defence but only at the expense of their own defensive solidity.
Chelsea were the victims of this themselves last season, conceding five times at Anfield, but have been better than some rivals at finding the balance between defence and attack against Jurgen Klopp’s champions.
We’ve taken a closer look at what Frank Lampard needs to do tactically to avoid giving their opponents too big an upper hand when the two teams meet at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Chelsea squad players set for Serie A as Blues streamline their squad
Frank Lampard has bulked up his squad this season, with more than £200m worth of new talent arriving over the summer, and this means there’s not space for everyone in west London.
A concerted effort has been made to move some squad players off the books, and reports are suggesting a couple of out-of-favour men are on their way to Serie A.
According to Fabrizio Romano, via the Sun, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Davide Zappacosta - both of whom were signed by Antonio Conte in the summer of 2017 - are set for moves to AC Milan and Genoa respectively.
Milan’s interest in Bakayoko is long-standing, with the French midfielder having spent the 2018/19 season on loan at the San Siro, and there have been conflicting reports over whether his move this summer would be another loan or a permanent deal.
Zappacosta, meanwhile, looks set for Genoa. The Italian right-back was loaned out to Roma last season, but his involvement was limited by injury, and the emergence of Reece James has pushed him down the pecking order at his parent club.
