5 Chelsea players who have been underwhelming this season

#3 Cesar Azpilicueta

Cesar Azpilicueta

Cesar Azpilicueta is the longest-serving player in the current Chelsea team but is nowhere near one of the club's standout performers.

Restricted to just eight appearances in the Premier League this season after being involved in 36 in the last campaign, injuries and loss of form have meant that the 31-year-old is no longer an automatic starter at Chelsea.

The Spaniard remains the club's captain for now, but the emergence of academy graduate Reece James means that Cesar Azpilicueta's days at Chelsea appear numbered.

Nevertheless, despite the player's diminishing impact at Chelsea, Lampard has no intentions of taking the captain's arm-band off 'Azpi', saying in this regard:

“Whether he plays, or there might be times when he doesn’t, he will have the same positive impact on the group off the pitch. That is all I can ask for. It is a pleasure to have him here for that.”

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#2 Timo Werner

Timo Werner

Timo Werner scored goals galore for RB Leipzig but has strangely struggled to hit his stride since moving to Chelsea in the summer.

The 24-year-old striker has had a dismal return of only four goals in 17 Premier League games. He failed to score in his last 12 games in the competition after being unable to find the back of the net against Manchester City on Sunday.

It is the longest scoring drought of his young career, which has coincided with Chelsea's dramatic slide.

It's the second time Timo #Werner has gone 11 games without a goal in his top flight career. Had it with Stuggart and now Chelsea. #CHE #Stat

— BOLU (@TheBoluSport) December 28, 2020

Perhaps, Werner would have better returns in front of goal if he is moved from the wings to his preferred centre-forward position. However, that would possibly necessitate Chelsea to tweak their formation and play an attacking midfielder less, something Lampard may not be very keen to do.

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#1 Kai Havertz

Kai Havertz

After a breakthrough campaign at Bayer Leverkusen, Kai Havertz has failed to get going after joining Chelsea in the summer.

Much like his older compatriot Timo Werner, Havertz has struggled to adapt to the physicality of the English game, returning underwhelming returns of only four goals in 21 games in all competitions for Chelsea.

Chelsea spent a combined £155 million on Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner & Kai Havertz last summer 💰Olivier Giroud has scored more goals (9) than all of them this season 😜 pic.twitter.com/u5TaTJXEkz

— Goal (@goal) December 28, 2020

Of course, Havertz has not been helped by his enormous price tag and Lampard's decision to play him out wide, which is not his preferred position.

Chelsea fans haven't yet seen the best of Havertz, but the 21-year-old did provide a fleeting glimpse of his ability by assisting Callum Hudson-Odoi in Chelsea's 3-1 loss against Manchester City on Sunday.