Chelsea team news vs Wolves: Lampard switches to back five to shore up shaky defence
FRANK LAMPARD has switched to a back five to try and shore up Chelsea’s leaky defence.
His Blues side have conceded nine goals in their opening four Premier League fixtures.
And the boss’ response for the trip to Wolves is to add an extra man into the back line.
It means Chelsea look set to start with three centre-backs, with Antonio Rudiger back in the side after injury partnering Andreas Christensen and Fikayo Tomori.
Kurt Zouma is dropped to the bench while captain Cesar Azpilicueta keeps his place, despite heavy criticism this term.
He starts at right wing-back with Marcos Alonso brought in on the other side due to the injury to Emerson Palmieri.
Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho start in the holding midfield roles, with Mason Mount and Willian roaming behind sole striker Tammy Abraham.
Ahead of the game, Chelsea paid an emotional tribute to the late Ray Wilkins, who would have turned 63 today.
On their official Twitter account, the club posted a video showing some of Wilkins’ highlights during his time at Chelsea.
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That included him in the famous No8 shirt, scoring and tussling for possession in midfield, as well as his time as a coach, marshalling his players on the training ground and lifting silverware.
The video starts with Pat Nevin saying: “He is a very, very special individual and he was absolutely one of us,” before the likes of Glenn Hoddle and John Terry shared their memories of the former midfielder.
The tweet simply read: “Ray Wilkins would have been 63 today. RIP, Butch. We miss you.”