Chelsea: 3 pairs of outcasts who could be saviours against Spurs and Bayern

3. Kepa Arrizabalaga and Kurt Zouma: Redemption at the back

The root cause of this team’s struggles all season has been the faltering dynamic of the goalkeeper and centre backs. From set pieces to open play, from lapses in concentration to simply being out of depth, the last lines of defence have been anything but helpful.

The full backs have shown their inconsistencies and they have been abandoned by their midfielders at times, but these cannot be excuses for making mistakes at the simplest of defensive tasks.

While there is almost no way to address this without the transfer window, Lampard still has a makeshift workaround: one tactical, one hopeful, both reaching back to players who were once held in high regard.

Lampard can find redress and redemption in Kurt Zouma and Kepa Arrizabalaga.

There is a huge misconception that Zouma has been Chelsea’s worst centre back this season. He does not have the “composure” of Andreas Christensen, the “passion” of Antonio Rudiger or the “potential” of Fikayo Tomori. Statistics of games with and without him will be thrown about, when the real reason he isn’t rated is because he is unspectacular on the ball.

Zouma doesn’t score 40-yarders, embarrass opponents with cheeky dribbles (even though he has, in fact, done so in the Champions League) or scream his lungs off after conceding.

No, Zouma’s crime has been that his sole motive in a match is to defend, which apparently shouldn’t be a priority for defenders anymore.

It’s not that Zouma has looked bad. His partners have made him look that way when he tried to cover for their mistakes. Too often the silky trio tries one long ball too many or goes one dribble too far, leaving Zouma to do all the defending when it backfires. At times, Zouma makes miraculous recoveries and tackles; on other occasions, he looks massively incompetent.

He may not be perfect, but if Chelsea is to stand any chance in this massive week, especially against Robert Lewandowski-led Bayern Munich, Frank Lampard needs Zouma’s no-nonsense approach and for his fellow defenders to adopt it.

That brings us to Kepa Arrizabalaga. The goalkeeper’s rise and fall have already been heavily analysed, dissected and documented. There is nothing to put forward that hasn’t been said already.

Simply put: if there was ever a time to prove that he can justify his price tag, that he can step up when it matters, that he can be Chelsea’s No. 1, this is it.

It’s a leap of faith for Frank Lampard: recast the outcast.