Frank Lampard's nightmare scenario ahead of Chelsea's season opener vs Brighton

Chelsea will have five new players vying to places in the starting XI next week when the Blues make the trip to Brighton & Hove Albion on September 14.

Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech will be hoping for a place in the side, while Kai Havertz's deal was confirmed on Friday and he will be hoping to make his debut at the AMEX Stadium.

Ben Chilwell is returning from a heel injury, while Thiago Silva will be looking to make an impact with his new club.

With their new signings, many pundits and fans alike believe the Blues will be putting a real title challenge in for the upcoming 2020/21 Premier League campaign.

When Kai Havertz could join up with the Chelsea squad

After Chelsea's opening game at the AMEX Stadium, the Blues take on Liverpool for their first home game on September 20.

However, despite the summer signings, Frank Lampard has a nightmare scenario on his hands leading into the early stages of the campaign.

Chelsea finished their 2019/20 season on August 8 with the Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich.

The players were then given a couple of weeks off before returning to training, however things have not gone particularly smoothly.

There were injuries to contend with, while several players also were having to self-isolate due to COVID-19 protocol.

It meant for their pre-season 1-1 draw with Brighton, Lampard did not have his full complement of players to prepare with.

Now, Chelsea also have a large number of players who are either on international duty in the Nations League or still recovering from injuries.

Thirteen potential first team players are currently with their duties, with England's last game not coming until Tuesday.

Chilwell, Ross Barkley and Christian Pulisic are also looking to come back from injury, which is making preparations less than ideal.

Lampard will have less than a week with his squad to prepare for the opener on the south coast.

Werner and Ziyech had joined in training towards the end of last season, while Havertz had his first individual session on Saturday at Cobham.

But the Blues boss will not have a lot of time to implement his ideas to his players.