Chelsea manager Frank Lampard expects Billy Gilmour to be in the mix for first team minutes again now that he’s finally fully fit.
The 19-year-old Scotsman impressed during his 11 appearances last season, but his campaign was cut short by the knee injury he sustained this past July. The former Rangers man has only now just returned to a level of match fitness, and now that he has, Lampard says the youngster will compete with the higher profile, big money midfielders for places in the starting XI.
Sevilla vs Chelsea FC Champions League Group E FYIs
Kickoff: Wed Dec 2, 8pm BST, Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán
Chelsea team news: go to this link
Chelsea Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
TV: BT Sport 3 (UK)
Streaming in USA: CBS All Access, TUDNxtra (in Spanish) and fuboTV (in Spanish)
Odds: Chelsea win 13/8, Draw 5/2, Sevilla 15/8 win
Competition for starting spots is rough at Chelsea, because they have such a deep and talented squad.
Lampard also extensively discussed the situation of another youngster who overcame a long term injury, Callum Hudson-Odoi, and his fight to win/maintain a place in another loaded position group (the forwards).
“He’s fit now Billy, he could probably do with some more match minutes which are hard to get in Covid times, but he’s doing very well,” said Lampard at his prematch press conference ahead of tomorrow’s UCL clash at Sevilla.
“It will be nice if he can get some minutes particularly over these two Champions League games, in the remainder of the group stage. And where do I see him? I see him hopefully coming back at the level he was at just before he got injured.
“He made a great impact and there will be so much more to come from him this time, because of the talent he has.”
In short, Gilmour is indeed part of the plans at Stamford Bridge, and the Blues boss confirmed that.
“He’s got a great attitude, he trains brilliantly, and he’s looking spot-on,” Lampard continued. “So he comes in just to compete in the squad with the other players in that midfield area.”
Prediction: Chelsea 2, Sevilla 1
In the reverse fixture, we saw a tedious, yawn-inducing scoreless draw. That most likely won’t happen again.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, 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,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.