Frank Lampard is expecting a 'strong' Manchester United to arrive at Stamford Bridge when Chelsea host their Carabao Cup fourth round clash next month.
Chelsea finished with six academy graduates on the pitch as they thrashed Grimsby 7-1 in west London on Wednesday. United meanwhile toiled again at Old Trafford, needing a penalty shoot-out to get past League One side Rochdale after another wretched performance from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side.
It was a far cry from the performance that saw United beat Chelsea 4-0 on the opening day of the season six weeks ago - but Lampard dismissed talk of United being under pressure ahead of their fourth round tie in October.
“I think a lot can happen in football in a short time", Lampard said. "The next round is not coming tomorrow.
"We have to respect the fact they have good players. They beat us 4-0, albeit it wasn’t a 4-0 at the start of the season, so I’m certainly not going to stand here and talk Man Utd down.
"It’s going to be a tough game and the beauty of what we did tonight was we made the game look pretty easy, but these games can be tough and I’d rather from a distance, having not watched the game, give Rochdale credit for taking them all the way. United will bring a strong team here."
