MX23RW : Tuesday, April 23 23:33:30| >> :60:363:363:
[monks data]
Attendance: 40,560
Chelsea logo
Premier League | Gameweek 4
Aug 31, 2019 at 3pm UK
 
Sheffield United logo

2-2

Abraham (19', 43')
FT(HT: 2-0)
Robinson (46'), Zouma (89' og.)

Frank Lampard: 'Fikayo Tomori deserved first Chelsea start'

The 21-year-old was named in Lampard's team for the 2-2 draw against Sheffield United.

Chelsea boss Frank Lampard says Fikayo Tomori was deserving of his first start for the club.

The 21-year-old was named in Lampard's team for the 2-2 draw against Sheffield United as he was preferred to Andreas Christensen to partner Kurt Zouma in the centre of defence.

Lampard is a huge admirer of the England Under-21 international, having had him on loan at Derby last season, and says his first Chelsea appearance for three years was on merit.

"I think Tomori played very well for me last year and is training at a very high level, Lampard said.

"There is competition at centre-back, he deserved to play and I thought he played well. It was just a choice."

Chelsea have conceded nine goals in their opening four games, including four to teams promoted from the Championship, which leaves Lampard looking for defensive solutions.

He will be helped by the return of Antonio Rudiger after the international break and the former Derby manager is not worried about the make-up of his back line.

"No, I wouldn't say I was worried about it," he said. "I am trying to work all over the team to get the right combinations.

"Rudiger is fit after the international break which gives me another choice.

"We can isolate goals and talk about centre-backs or whatever – it's not (just down to them), it's the team.

"When we score goals, sometimes it's because of the centre-back playing the ball quickly.

"I am not relating to the centre-back issue. I trust the four centre-backs I have completely, we are just in a moment where obviously we need to stop conceding goals."

The Blades looked dead and buried at half-time after trailing to Tammy Abraham's double but they mounted a recovery in the second half and earned a point thanks to Callum Robinson's strike and a Kurt Zouma own goal.

Left-back Enda Stevens said his side showed Chelsea too much respect in the first half and wants them to use the result to build belief.

"The finish was brilliant, it's what we need to do, but we need to start games like that," he said.

"I know we are playing at Stamford Bridge and playing against great players but the occasion can't get the better of us.

"We have got to control our emotions and be smarter. We did that in the second half and we go into the international break on a positive.

"We have got points on the board and we are building to where we want to be and hopefully – after the break – we can really kick on."

ID:370041: cacheID:370041:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:19132:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Chelsea boss Frank Lampard on August 31, 2019
Read Next:
Frank Lampard: 'Young squad makes no difference'
>
Read more about Max Verstappen Football
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
10am
Munar
Borges
10am
Navone
Popyrin
10am
Vukic
Daniel
10am
Bouzas Maneiro
Badosa
10am
Davis
Sherif
10am
Putintseva
Yuan
10am
Stephens
Trevisan
10am
Zhu
Jimenez Kasintseva
11.30am
Altmaier
Landaluce
11.30am
Rinderknech
Shevchenko
11.30am
Safiullin
Seyboth Wild
11.30am
Arango
Anisimova
11.30am
Sorribes Tormo
Pera
11.30am
Zhang
Rogers
12pm
Osaka
Minnen
12pm
Vekic
Siegemund
1pm
Darderi
Monfils
1pm
Karatsev
Marozsan
1pm
Van Assche
Bergs
1pm
Linette
Cocciaretto
1pm
Wang
Tomova
1pm
Wang
Dolehide
1.30pm
Dart
Bucsa
1.30pm
Raducanu
Lourdes Carle
2.30pm
Bronzetti
Gracheva
2.30pm
Frech
Cristian
2.30pm
Hibino
Krueger
3pm
Coric
Hassan
3pm
Kokkinakis
Draper
3pm
Nakashima
Bagnis
3pm
Van De Zandschulp
Eubanks
4pm
Baptiste
Saville
4pm
Bejlek
Blinkova
4pm
Errani
Wozniacki
4pm
Montgomery
Avanesyan
4.30pm
Klein
Llamas Ruiz
4.30pm
Burel
Danilovic
5pm
Moutet
Shang
5.30pm
Diaz Acosta
Shapovalov
6pm
Andreeva
Townsend
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Arsenal34245582265677
2Liverpool33228375324374
3Manchester CityMan City32227376324473
4Aston Villa34206871502166
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs32186865491660
6Newcastle UnitedNewcastle321551269521750
7Manchester UnitedMan Utd32155124748-150
8West Ham UnitedWest Ham34139125463-948
9Chelsea32138116157447
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton321111105250244
11Wolverhampton WanderersWolves33127144653-743
12Fulham34126165054-442
13Bournemouth33119134860-1242
14Crystal Palace3399154256-1436
15Brentford3498175259-735
16Everton33108153448-1430
17Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest3479184260-1826
18Luton TownLuton3467214775-2825
19Burnley3458213769-3223
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd3337233188-5716


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!