Chelsea will be looking to make a winning start to the post-Frank Lampard era when they face Wolverhampton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday evening.
Following a run of five Premier League defeats in their last eight matches, Chelsea's hierarchy made the decision to relieve Lampard of his duties on Monday morning, less than two years after he succeeded Maurizio Sarri in west London.
Although Lampard has only been out of the door a little over 24 hours, Chelsea have moved swiftly to appoint his successor, with former Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain chief Thomas Tuchel on the cusp of being officially announced as their new head coach.
Tuchel is set to arrive in England on Tuesday afternoon ahead of taking charge of training for the very first time. He will also take charge of his first game tomorrow evening if he is passes a coronavirus test and returns a negative result.
He will not be forced to quarantine because he is entering an elite sport exemption programme, but he will be forced to act within the guidelines of other coronavirus restrictions as set out by the government.
But should he fail a test or any other incidents crop up on route to England, meaning he cannot take charge of tomorrow night's visit of Nuno Espirito Santo's side, Chelsea will most probably be led into battle by Joe Edwards, Chris Jones and Anthony Barry, who were all part of Lampard's coaching staff.
Although Lampard and his assistant, Jody Morris, left the club on Monday, the aforementioned trio have remained in place at Stamford Bridge.
Another candidate who could step up to the plate is former Blues goalkeeper Petr Cech, but that, in hindsight, seems unlikely, although he is the club's technical and performance advisor.
In the statement released by the Blues to confirm Lampard's exit they did not confirm that anyone had been placed in caretaker charge, making it clear that they intended to install Tuchel as soon as possible.
