Frank Lampard leads Chelsea FC into their final match before the first set of internationals badly in need of a victory. It’s match day four and the Blues are still in search of their first victory in front of the home folks this season. Luckily, they are heavily tipped to do so against newly promoted Sheffield United on Saturday.
Frank Lampard’s men head into this match looking up at their opposition in the table, but only on goal differential tie-breaker. Both the Blues and Blades have a draw, a win and a loss on the young season, but Manchester United’s battering of Chelsea on opening day has their season goal differential in a bad place right now, and they enter this game 13th in the league while Sheffield are 9th.
That said, let’s take a look at what kind of lineup Lampard might field has he looks to get another win, and cool his seat off a bit.
Chelsea FC Starting XI Prediction (4-3-3) vs Sheffield United FC
Christian Pulisic Tammy Abraham Mason Mount
Mateo Kovacic Jorginho Ross Barkley
Cesar Azpilicueta Kurt Zouma Andreas Christensen Emerson Palmieri
Kepa Arrizabalaga
Sheffield United at Chelsea FC FYIs
Team news for both sides: go to this link
Kickoff: Saturday, Aug 31, Stamford Bridge, 3pm
Google Result Probability: Chelsea win 69%, Draw 20%, Sheffield United win 11%
Odds via Betway: Chelsea win 4/11, Draw 15/4, Sheffield United win 8/1
Prediction: Chelsea 2, Sheffield United 1
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com on Twitter here and his cat on Instagram at this link.