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Football London
Football London
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Elliot Jackson & Andy Ha

Danny Murphy tells Frank Lampard the N'Golo Kante change Chelsea need to make in the big games

Chelsea fell to their first defeat since September against Manchester City after losing 2-1 on Saturday evening.

Frank Lampard's side took the lead at the Etihad Stadium through N'Golo Kante's first half goal, but Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez both netted to hand the reigning champions a crucial three points in their pursuit of leaders Liverpool.

Kante's return to the Chelsea first team before the international break was a huge boost for the Blues, but Danny Murphy believes Lampard should utilise the French midfielder differently in the big games.

The former Leicester star made his name as a holding midfielder, but has been deployed in an advanced box-to-box role in recent years, with Maurizio Sarri preferring to use the 28-year-old further forward.

“He’s [Frank Lampard] got a lot to be positive about, there were some terrific performances today but in the bigger games, the finer details matter a lot and that is defensively," Murphy said on Match of the Day.

"Although the midfield is full of experience and quality, I’m not sure, here they’re in control of the game.

"Kante is ahead of the ball, Jorginho is left on his own, he’s trying to recover. I’m not sure in the big games he has the athleticism, he dives in a bit here, to play that role because you get exposed by the opposition.

“Even though Kante scored today, in the bigger games I’d be playing him in that role because away from home they haven’t got good results against the other top six, they’ve conceded too many goals.

"Here, Jorginho has to get inside to help, that’s the role of a defensive midfielder, especially in a three and it’s those small details that flipped the game on his head.”

Speaking after the game, Lampard was asked if he took heart from Chelsea's performance despite the defeat.

"Maybe it is not the critical factor, but coming into the game in our recent form and developing quickly, I wanted us to come here and be brave. Be brave on the ball and off it and I think that you saw that from us today.

"At 1-0 we had a relative control of the game. Of course when you are here it can never last. They had a couple of moments, but we were playing well and throughout the game there were a lot of positives.

"At this level maybe it shows that the finer details in the boxes, both boxes decide these ones."

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