A new era begins at Chelsea, and it’ll start with a visit from Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday night. Frank Lampard is terminated, after just one season and a half. His replacement, himself fired by Paris Saint-Germain just before Christmas, is Thomas Tuchel.
Reports had indicated that Roman Abramovich wanted to hire somebody who speaks German and Tuchel does indeed possess that trait. Perhaps he can be the Havertz and Werner whisperer then? Maybe he’ll get the most out of these two high priced German internationals acquired in the summer? Lampard obviously could not.
Chelsea FC at Leicester City FYIs
Kick off: 6pm GMT, Wed. Jan 27, Stamford Bridge
Team news for both sides: go here
Premier League Position: Chelsea 9th, 29 pts Wolverhampton Wanderers 14th, 22 pts
Premier League Form Guide: Chelsea LWLDL, Wolverhampton Wanderers LLDLD
Odds via Bet 365: Chelsea win 1.60, Chelsea win or draw 1.16, Wolves lose or draw 1.16
That was one of the reasons for Lampard’s sacking, but there were was lots of other reasons as well. Christian Pulisic just doesn’t look himself right now, despite being fully fit. He’s had a couple poor games, and other than his purple patch during Project Restart, Lampard wasn’t able to get the most out of him either.
It doesn’t help that Lamps often started him on the right wing, when his real position is the left. We made our lineup prediction here with the idea that Tuchel will be in place in time for this one, hence you’ll see both of the Germans who have failed up to live up to expectations in the lineup here.
It is still not 100% certain though, at press time that Tuchel will be on the touchline come Wednesday night. The coronavirus pandemic has complicated this situation, just like it complicates everything else.
Chelsea FC Starting XI Prediction (4-3-3) vs Wolves
Mendy; James, Zouma, Silva, Chilwell; Mount, Kovacic, Havertz; Ziyech, Hudson-Odoi, Werner
Prediction: Chelsea 2, Wolves 0
While both sides are really struggling right now, Chelsea have won six of their last seven, across all competitions, against the Midlands club and should be able to take all three points here.
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.