‘Lampard Full Of Respect For Leicester’

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‘Lampard Full Of Respect For Leicester’

The Emirates FA Cup is a competition Chelsea manager Frank Lampard is determined to excel in, according to The Athletic’s Simon Johnson.

2020-06-28T10:11:00.000Z

by Sam Jones

Published

28 Jun, 2020

‘Lampard Full Of Respect For Leicester’

The Emirates FA Cup is a competition Chelsea manager Frank Lampard is determined to excel in, according to The Athletic’s Simon Johnson.

Sam Jones

2020-06-28T10:11:00.000Z

‘Lampard Full Of Respect For Leicester’

The Emirates FA Cup is a competition Chelsea manager Frank Lampard is determined to excel in, according to The Athletic’s Simon Johnson.

Sam Jones

2020-06-28T10:11:00.000Z

‘Lampard Full Of Respect For Leicester’

The Emirates FA Cup is a competition Chelsea manager Frank Lampard is determined to excel in, according to The Athletic’s Simon Johnson.

Sam Jones

2020-06-28T10:11:00.000Z

‘Lampard Full Of Respect For Leicester’

The Emirates FA Cup is a competition Chelsea manager Frank Lampard is determined to excel in, according to The Athletic’s Simon Johnson.

Sam Jones

2020-06-28T10:11:00.000Z

_- Leicester City host Chelsea in Sunday’s behind-closed-doors Emirates FA Cup Quarter-Final (4pm kick-off)- The Athletic’s Chelsea Reporter Simon Johnson discusses the Blues’ key men and their manager ahead of making the trip to King Power Stadium- Chelsea could not have made a better start to the resumption of the Premier League season, according to Johnson_- Live coverage of the last-eight tie begins at 3pm on LCFC TV with Gerry Taggart, Iwan Roberts and Steve Walsh

Leicester City welcome Chelsea to King Power Stadium on Sunday (4pm kick-off) in one of four Emirates FA Cup Quarter-Final ties taking place this weekend.

The Foxes were rewarded with another home tie after beating Birmingham City 1-0 in early March, when Ricardo Pereira’s late header proved to be the difference between the two sides.

Chelsea, meanwhile, knocked out Liverpool at Stamford Bridge, thanks to goals from Willian and Ross Barkley. Since the Premier League restart, Lampard’s side have seen off both Aston Villa and Manchester City to move to within a point of the Foxes in third place.

Now turning their attention back to the FA Cup, Johnson says Chelsea will be coming into the game on a high after those two positive results in the league.

“Chelsea couldn’t have started any better,” Johnson admitted, speaking to LCFC TV's City On The Sofa show, which is live at 3pm on Sunday.

“First of all [they had] a good comeback win against Aston Villa, they played very well in that game and then a completely different task against Manchester City.

“Of course, understandably, all the headlines were about Liverpool winning the title, but the way that Chelsea played was lost a little bit in the post-match coverage. It was a very mature performance and they are certainly full of belief.

“Frank Lampard is very much a coach who is instantly focused on the next game. He will be thinking that Manchester City is gone and it’s all about Leicester and he’ll be full of respect for the team Leicester are.

“In the two games so far, it’s been very tight with two draws so he certainly won’t be taking anything for granted.”

Lampard’s playing career was littered with domestic trophies, including four FA Cups at Chelsea, and Johnson believes he has the hunger as a manager to replicate that success for the Blues.

“This is the competition he loves,” Johnson added. “He won it four times as a player and played a key role in a lot of those FA Cup wins, so unlike perhaps other managers Chelsea have had in the past from abroad who don’t value the cup competitions as highly, this is a competition dear to Frank Lampard’s heart.

“He’s in his first season as Chelsea manager and Chelsea managers are expected to win. He will be wanting to get a winner's medal round his neck for sure.”

However, with crucial league fixtures on the horizon, Lampard will also have one eye on his side’s quest for a top four finish and is expected to tinker with the starting XI.

Should he feature on Sunday, Christian Pulisic has been singled out as Chelsea’s biggest threat, following two goals in as many games since the resumption.

Johnson continued: “I think there will be some changes, especially with a big league game against West Ham United coming up.

“The two teams are almost neck and neck in the Premier League as well so Chelsea will be looking to that West Ham game and continuing the momentum.

“I think Frank will be cautious and won’t want to make too many changes to disturb the momentum, but he will want to rotate his squad. He has kept talking about the importance of the squad in the few games so far.

"If Pulisic starts, he’s the man in form. He’s been out with an injury since the start of the year and he’s come back, one substitute appearance against Aston Villa and one start against Manchester City, and scored two goals. He’s the danger man.

“I would expect Tammy Abraham to start up front and he’s got a big point to prove with Timo Werner coming in next season. Also, Oliver Giroud has started the first two games and I’d be very surprised if Lampard starts him for a third time. If I was a Leicester defender, I’d be expecting Abraham to come out and try and prove a point to Frank Lampard.

“Then maybe someone like Pedro, who has just signed a short contract extension, he hasn’t started in the first two games either, so perhaps he’ll be brought in.

“And finally, Billy Gilmour, who is the rising star at Chelsea, very much like a Jorginho, but although it’s early days, he plays the role almost better than Jorginho already. That’s the kind of talent that the kid’s got."

LCFC TV’s matchday coverage kicks off at 3pm with City On The Sofa, as Gerry Taggart, Steve Walsh and Iwan Roberts join Dan Bates for relaxed analysis for an hour before kick-off in Leicester.

Live and free LCFC Radio commentary of the game is available from 3:50pm with former Leicester captain Matt Elliott, while you can also watch the game live on BT Sport from 3:30pm.

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