Chelsea: Three things to look for in the Boxing Day bout at Arsenal

3. Frank Lampard’s line-up selections

At the forefront of any Chelsea discussion these days is the talk of Lampard’s line-up cards. There are a lot of interesting positional battles in the team which are made even more intense by the extensive injury list. Lampard has already confirmed that Ben Chilwell, Reece James and Hakim Ziyech will all miss the Blues’ Boxing Day event at the Emirates. Therefore, expect Emerson, Cesar Azpilicueta and Christian Pulisic to slot in to fill the shoes of those stars in each of their respective positions. Even with many names in the starting XI already penciled in—the aforementioned, Edouard Mendy, Kurt Zouma, Thiago Silva, Mason Mount, N’Golo Kante and Timo Werner—there are still a few unknowns to keep an eye on.

Possibly the most intriguing struggle is the one for the starting striker spot. Olivier Giroud looked to be Lampard’s No. 1 choice as of late, but the former Arsenal forward struggled against both Everton and Wolves. This opened the door for Abraham, who netted a brace to secure three points in the Blues’ latest match against West Ham. Both are in fine form, however, the young England international seemingly did enough to bump his veteran mentor back to the bench for the time being.

Abraham’s selfless play and unrelenting hustle against the Hammers epitomized what Lampard wants from his No. 9. Not to mention, as much as we’d live to see Giroud put four past Bernd Leno and his former club, Abraham is better suited for the Blues’ style of play against the Gunners. Whoever gets the nod against Arsenal will surely sit for Aston Villa; question is, who sits on Boxing Day?

Another interesting tussle is the struggle to secure the third starting midfield spot. Kai Havertz was enjoying a decent start to the season before Coronavirus rocked his world. The 21-year-old still has yet to fully recover, hence his benching versus West Ham. He’s in line to get the start against Arsenal—one would think—but an argument can also be made for Mateo Kovacic. Kovacic steadied the ship and helped the Blues net two late goals to comfortably dispose of the Hammers last Monday. Last year’s Player of the Season is a jack of all trades in the midfield and form favors the Croatian. Lampard’s got another tough call to make, but do we really expect him to keep the £80 million German on the sideline for two straight? It’s unlikely.

What are some of the things you’ll be watching for? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!