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Chelsea are on a roll at the moment, with a collection of impressive wins across all competitions. The Blues are yet to lose a Premier League game since their loss to Liverpool early on in the season, and sent out another reminder of their title credentials with a stunning 3-1 over Leeds United at home to follow up their 4-0 rout of Sevilla in Spain.
With qualification to the next phase of the UEFA Champions League not at stake anymore, Lampard can rest some key players for the upcoming clash away at Everton. Ahead of the game, we take a look at some of the latest Chelsea news.
Lampard confirms two starts against Krasnodar
Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has confirmed that Billy Gilmour and Kepa Arrizabalaga are in line for stars against Krasnodar in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday. The Blues are through to the next round, and Lampard confirmed that he wants to give his second string a go in Europe's elite competition.
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Speaking ahead of the game, Lampard said;
"Kepa [Arrizabalaga] starts. With goalkeepers, they have to be patient. Edou [Mendy] has been a regular pick with his form. This game is a game for Kepa who is training brilliantly well, acting brilliantly well. These periods will happen in players’ careers. Sometimes they make you stronger and better at the other end.
He added on the Spanish goalkeeper,
"Kepa’s been very supportive with Edou. What I see is someone who is supporting him, and training really well which is the main thing I look at. They have to push each other, and I see that. His reaction has been spot on."
The Englishman said on Billy Gilmour;
"Billy will start tomorrow. I value him a lot in this squad. You can say we have a lot of options in this squad but that can quickly change as you’ve seen with the winger situation. So I don’t want to think about that [Gilmour leaving on loan] until the window opens."
Two Chelsea stars ruled out of UCL clash
Lampard confirmed that star forward Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi are both ruled out for Chelsea's clash against Krasnodar. The Moroccan international was subbed off the pitch against Leeds after picking up what appeared to be a hamstring injury, which was confirmed by the manager. Speaking on his injury and adaptation period at the club, Lampard explained;
"Hakim Ziyech is going for a scan this afternoon, so I will have more information on his hamstring injury tomorrow. He’s out."
"He came to us at the back-end of last season and trained a lot. The injury [in pre-season] was disappointing, and he missed some weeks, but straightaway he showed his intensity to work in the gym and on the training pitches as soon as he was back, and that was why he hit the ground running when he came into the team."
The Englishman continued,
"I hope this is a minor injury. The feeling he had since the game is that it doesn’t feel too bad, which I’m hoping means we’ll be talking a couple of weeks, but we will wait for the scan. I’m not worried too much, he’s a fit lad, and he’s shown he will be an important player for us."
Confirming Hudson-Odoi's injury, the former midfielder explained;
"Callum Hudson-Odoi is also out. He had a hamstring problem in training yesterday too."
Chelsea set to reject offers for Hudson-Odoi
Chelsea are not interested in allowing star man Callum Hudson-Odoi to depart the club in the near future, as per The Athletic. The winger has barely managed to feature for Lampard's side this season, having accumulated just 14 minutes over the last five gameweeks. In fact, he's managed only one start in the league so far this season.
With the UEFA Euros on the horizon, Hudson-Odoi is keen to work his way into Gareth Southgate's plans and is hopeful of receiving regular game time. Bayern Munich came close to signing him last summer until he signed a new deal which is said to be worth up to £120,000-a-week. With Chelsea unwilling to let him leave, it remains to be seen if his game time increases at Stamford Bridge.
