Here is your Chelsea digest for Sunday, December 13.
Lampard defends Mendy
Frank Lampard has defended goalkeeper Edouard Mendy over his error in Chelsea's defeat to Everton.
Mendy charged out and brought down Dominic Calvert-Lewin to concede the penalty that ended up deciding the game, Gylfi Sigurdsson scoring.
The goalkeeper has been impressive since his arrival late in the summer, and it seems he has more than enough credit with boss Lampard to cover for this slip-up.
"Yes, he's been fantastic since he's been here," Lampard said after the game. "Clearly not just his mistake either. Our mentality with second balls wasn't good. We gave them a head start.
"We didn't necessarily deserve to lose the game but it wasn't the us of recently."
Player ratings
Rob Guest rated the Chelsea players after the defeat at Goodison Park. Here is a taster.
Edouard Mendy
Took a knock early on after colliding with Reece James and was then guilty of giving away a penalty after charging out of his goal and bringing down Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the box. However, atoned for his error by saving well from Richarlison after a quick break. Quiet after that with Everton failing to test him. 5
Reece James
Twice went close to an equaliser in quick succession after seeing his free-kick palmed away by Jordan Pickford before striking the post from the resulting corner. Kept working hard over the course of the game and put in some good crosses. Chelsea's best player on an off day for the team. 8
Kurt Zouma
Played a couple of good long balls over the top early on and later saw his effort from point-blank range blocked by former teammate Pickford. Remained strong at the back up against the strength of Calvert-Lewin. 6
Thiago Silva
Failed to deal with the ball that culminated in Gylfi Sigurdsson scoring from the spot as Calvert-Lewin bullied him in the air. A rare error after such a bright start to life at the club. 5
Lampard explains Pulisic absence
Lampard has provided an injury update on Chelsea winger Christian Pulisic.
The American winger was a surprise omission from not only the Chelsea starting XI but the whole matchday squad for the defeat to Everton in the Premier League.
Pulisic was thought to be fit and ready to play ahead of the trip to Goodison Park, but his absence from the squad left Blues fans feeling very concerned given the winger has missed a fair bit of action already this season, only appearing in five league games to date.
And suspicions of an injury were confirmed by Chelsea boss Lampard ahead of the game, though it doesn't seem to be a serious setback.
"Christian has a bit of an awareness in his hamstring," the Blues boss told BT Sport. "He did great last week when he came on, but in the week, he's been feeling a little bit of awareness.
"We've seen two wingers of ours go down recently. We're coming up to the biggest period of the season and players are getting a lot of muscle injuries in their legs.
"Christian, yeah, he wasn't quite ready. I hope he is for Tuesday or for next week."
