Frank Lampard may have to do without Christian Pulisic when Chelsea begin their 2020/21 Premier League season away at Brighton & Hove Albion.
With the new campaign kicking off next weekend, the Blues are in action on the Monday evening after the decision to give them a couple of days extra rest following their European involvement in August.
Pulisic did miss the team's Champions League match against Bayern Munich as a result of the hamstring injury he sustained in the FA Cup final against Arsenal and it's still up in the air as to when exactly he will return.
"It’s going to be touch and go for the start of the season," said Frank Lampard when speaking to the press to preview the Bayern game. "Six weeks probably gets into the start of the season, but we have to treat the injury right.
"In the big scheme of things, when Christian reflects on his first season, he should be very happy with his improvement levels.
"He’s had the most goals and assists in his career, and that’s in his first season in the Premier League.
"We’ll get him fit and get him ready. If he misses the first one or two games, we’ll have a firing Christian and hopefully as hungry as he looked after the restart."
Pulisic was a standout performer in his first season in England and the club will not want to rush him back and risk losing him for even longer given how important he is to the side.
So how could Chelsea start at the Amex Stadium if he isn't declared fit? football.london takes a look.
Werner out wide
Lampard does have a couple of options to play out wide on the left if Pulisic is indeed missing through injury.
New signing Timo Werner could be used in the role as he has lined up there plenty of times in the past for RB Leipzig, while Callum Hudson-Odoi is another possibility.
Although many expect the German international to play through the middle and lead the line, shifting out to the left would allow Olivier Giroud to maintain his place in the side.
The Frenchman was a key figure for the Blues towards the end of last campaign and his hold-up play could really benefit Werner as he would be able to link up with his new teammate and cause problems for the hosts.
In this formation we've gone for Mason Mount and Kai Havertz to play just in front of N'Golo Kante and then Hakim Ziyech and Werner playing either side of Giroud.
Possible Chelsea XI vs Brighton: Caballero; Azpilicueta, Zouma, Silva, Chilwell; Kante; Mount, Havertz; Ziyech, Werner, Giroud
Hudson-Odoi gets the nod
If Lampard is intent on starting Werner through the middle then it may see Hudson-Odoi come in from the start.
The England international wasn't at his best last season and he really needs to make an impression this term given the amount of competition he has for a starting spot.
We've gone for a 4-2-3-1 formation the Blues have used numerous times in the past under the head coach.
Mount gets the nod over Mateo Kovacic to partner Kante in the middle, with Ziyech, Havertz and Hudson-Odoi providing support to Werner in attack
Possible Chelsea XI vs Brighton: Caballero; Azpilicueta, Zouma, Silva, Chilwell; Kante, Mount; Ziyech, Havertz, Hudson-Odoi; Werner
Three-man defence
Another option for the boss would be to persist with the three-man defence that he used at the end of last campaign.
Cesar Azpilicueta, Kurt Zouma and new signing Thiago Silva form our three-man defence, thus allowing both Reece James and Ben Chilwell licence to push forward and support in attack.
With Kante and Mount taking charge in midfield, Lampard could then unleash a front three of Havertz, Ziyech and Werner.
Although Ziyech and Havertz don't usually operate from the left, the former has played there in the past for Ajax and Heerenveen.
Possible Chelsea XI vs Brighton: Caballero; Azpilicueta, Silva, Zouma; James, Kante, Mount, Chilwell; Havertz, Ziyech, Werner
