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Chelsea boss Frank Lampard now has three new undroppables in addition to N'Golo Kante
Chelsea appear to have finally found their mojo under Frank Lampard following a run of several positive results.
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Frank Lampard is slowly beginning to establish his best Chelsea XI at Stamford Bridge. It's a statement that has been a long time coming for the Blues boss, who has made a habit of tweaking his starting line ups. In his defence, Lampard has had to accommodate plenty of new signings in west London and he looks to strike the right balance between experience and youth.
Now Chelsea are beginning to put together some consistency as they look to establish themselves as regular top-four competitors.
Much of that is down to the fact Lampard is slowly beginning to settle on his preferred side.
While he remains partial to some rotation due to the sheer volume of matches, Lampard has slowly found three undroppables to go alongside N'Golo Kante.
Edouard Mendy has made an instant impact since arriving at the club from Rennes for £22million.
He kept a clean sheet on his Premier League debut against Crystal Palace and was then absent with a thigh injury.
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Kepa Arrizabalaga filled in against Southampton and the contrast was telling, as Chelsea conceded three goals in a 3-3 frenzy.
His return has been marked with four consecutive clean sheets against Sevilla, Manchester United, Krasnodar and Burnley.
Mendy has really nailed down the role and already justified his price-tag to end all doubt surrounding Kepa.
Kurt Zouma also deserves credit for his part in tightening up the defence.
The Frenchman is also now one of the first names on the team-sheet, despite finding himself way down the pecking order at the end of last season.
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He is now Chelsea's first-choice centre-back as Lampard continues to moderate the use of Thiago Silva.
Zouma has also found himself on the scoresheet on several occasions this season with goals against Brighton, Crystal Palace and Burnley.
His compatriot Kante looks to have put his fitness concerns behind after a difficult season last term.
Now he is back doing what he does best as the anchor in Chelsea's midfield.
Lampard is now set to copy Manchester City's midfield set up with Kai Havertz and Mason Mount in advanced roles ahead of Kante. That is testament to the former Leicester man.
Finally, Timo Werner has already established himself as Chelsea's main man after finding his goalscoring touch.
While Lampard did offer him the chance of a rare rest at Burnley, the German replaced Christian Pulisic in the line up due to a late injury.
He was on the scoresheet at Turf Moor and there is already a reliance on him at Stamford Bridge.
Tammy Abraham remains a respectable deputy option but nobody can score goals like Werner at Chelsea.
If Chelsea were playing a crunch match, Werner would be guaranteed to start permitting he was fit. Lampard now has his Fab Four to rely on.