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Football London
Football London
Sport
Oliver Harbord

How Frank Lampard can fit Ziyech, Pulisic, Havertz and Werner into his Chelsea starting XI

For the first time this season, Frank Lampard will have his full complement of Chelsea forwards available to him.

The Blues host Southampton at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon, and Lampard will have Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic fit for the match.

The two wingers will add to a plethora of talent already available to the Blues boss, with Callum Hudson-Odoi, Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, Timo Werner, Olivier Giroud and Tammy Abraham also challenging for a starting spot.

It gives Lampard quite a headache going into the match and for future games, if they are all able to stay healthy during a busy scheduled.

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However, it’s one that Lampard is looking forward to, with the competition for places expected to drive the Blues on.

"Any team that wants to compete towards the top of the league and in the Champions League needs more than one player per position," Lampard said.

"It needs to be competitive across the front area. We had it last year.

"We lost Willian, we lost Pedro, we lost Batshuayi. We've brought players in for the same level of competition in terms of numbers and I feel like the quality levels of players of the options we brought in... of course you want to improve.

"It's up to the players of course in terms of their performance and at the same time it gives me a nice problem in terms of selecting players we can hopefully use through the season and options to come off the bench.

"I'm happy with what some people might call a problem in that area."

So how will Lampard solve his problem, and how will the Blues boss deal with the new options.?

If Lampard wants to get Pulisic, Havertz. Ziyech and Werner into the same starting XI, then the 4-2-3-1 formation is likely to be the way to go.

With Pulisic on the left, Ziyech on the right and Havertz playing in the number ten role behind Werner, it could be the most dynamic way to set up.

Of course, if that is the way that Lampard goes then it could leave Mount and Hudson-Odoi without a place in the starting XI.

However, with all the matches coming up, including the start-up of the Champions League this week, rotation is going to be the key.

Hudson-Odoi and Mount are certainly going to get their chances, and if Lampard also goes for the 4-3-3 formation, then Mount will play a huge role.

But to get the best out of his new players, then the 4-2-3-1 formation is going to be the way forward for Lampard.

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