Chelsea have dropped an early team news hint ahead of their clash with Brighton. The Blues are in action on Saturday at Stamford Bridge as they welcome Roberto De Zerbi's overperforming Seagulls to west London.
It was the reverse fixture that started the downfall of Graham Potter as form massively dropped over the course of five months, leaving the side 11th in the table. Meanwhile, Brighton and De Zerbi flourished under new management and are still making a push to finish in the top four.
It is in stark contrast to Chelsea, whose attention is on the Champions League quarter-final second-leg tie with Real Madrid on Tuesday, though the 2-0 deficit makes it an unlikely miracle. Outside of that, there is very little to play for other than personal pride for the Blues.
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Lampard, who is looking to ignite some life back into the club, is yet to get a victory or see his team score, admitted that there are changes afoot for this game. He said: "For the Brighton game, with the squad that we have, we will need freshness and people that maybe haven't played in the Champions League in mid-week because they're a very good team."
Lampard added: "We'll need a lot of energy in our game and a lot of aggression in our game, some of that will come from freshness so we'll see some changes to the starting line-up."
Given the fitness concerns over Thiago Silva, Reece James and N'Golo Kante, that trio may well be included in those rotated out with Benoit Badiashile, Conor Gallagher and Mason Mount not getting as much game time as expected in recent weeks. Elsewhere the club posted an image of Hakim Ziyech on Twitter on Friday.
Although far from a certainty, it could be seen as a nod towards the Morrocan winger's potential involvement in the game. As for his teammate Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, when asked if the game could give a chance to someone like him, Lampard said: "We'll see in that one. I don't want to go position specific.
"What I do want to say is, the players have to feel when they train and when they turn up for training and how they prepare, the competitive nature in the squad to get a place in the team needs to be high in every position. Auba is a bit like everyone in the squad, starting before or not starting so much, everyone needs to compete in training and show they're worthy of their place. History says he has a fantastic goalscoring record. So, we'll see."
Aubameyang is unavailable for Champions League selection after missing out on the squad under Potter.
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