Injury-free Chelsea brace for tough fixture run, starting with Newcastle clash
Chelsea head to St James’ Park looking to reach the quarterfinals of the League Cup and Maresca confirmed at his…
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has dismissed his Manchester United counterpart Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s claims that the Blues will be better prepared in Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final match between both the teams because they have had more time to rest.
Chelsea last played on Tuesday when they beat Norwich 1-0 in the Premier League, while United played on Thursday to beat Crystal Palace 2-0.
“We’re in a period where we’re playing games all the time very regularly, and you become ‘play, recover, play again, recover’, and you work with the squad as it is,” Lampard said as quoted by PTI via AFP.
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“It’s an age-old question. A lot of managers, you probably dig out the times when I’ve mentioned it, but at the same time it isn’t about advantage or not.
“Sometimes it works in your favour to be playing regularly and ticking over, so, no, I don’t see it,” he added.
However, Lampard did not fall short of praising the current form of United, who remain unbeaten in their last 18 matches across competitions. He lauded the attacking trio of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood and also underlined Bruno Fernandes’ importance.
“We know they are playing well, they’ve got a very, very potent front three — probably the most potent front three in the country, in terms of pure numbers anyway, in terms of goals,” said Lampard.
“And obviously (Bruno) Fernandes has made a huge difference coming in January.”
Meanwhile, Chelsea are also locked in a tight top-four battle with United and Leicester City. The 1-0 win over Norwich had helped the Londoners stay third, Leicester at fourth and United at fifth are breathing down their neck.
Both United and Leicester have 62 points from 36 matches, but the Foxes sit at fourth due to better goal difference. Chelsea at third have one-point advantage.
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