Three fixtures that could define Lampard’s future at Chelsea

Chelsea manager, Frank Lampard, is walking on the thinnest tightropes at Stamford Bridge amid reports owner Roman Abramovich has three candidates in mind to replace him.

The Blues produced a lacklustre performance against Leicester that saw Brendan Rodgers’ side run out comfortable 2-0 win at King Power Stadium on Tuesday night.

Lampard’s position is under huge scrutiny, with Chelsea now nine points off the top of the table and five points shy of the top-four. Considering they spent more than £220million on new signings during the summer.

Chelsea have now lost five of their last eight league games, winning just two. Whilst victories have been hard to come by, scoring goals, certainly recently, has also been an issue. In their last five league matches they have found the net just four times.

With the pressure mounting on Lampard, the next two weeks will be vital to his future.

Chelsea have slipped to eighth and are now six points short of Liverpool in fourth, having played a game more.

The Blues will be looking to get back to winning ways when they face Luton Town in the FA Cup fourth round this weekend.

Here are three upcoming fixtures that could decide Lampard’s future at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea vs Luton Town

Despite their poor run of form, Chelsea remain favourites to win Sunday’s FA Cup fourth round clash with Luton Town on Sunday.

But Lampard and his players will be under enormous pressure to see off the Championship outfit.

Against Morecambe in round three, Lampard was expected to go with a weakened team, handing opportunities to some of his younger players, but he opted to put his foot to the floor and go with a full strength line-up.

Chelsea vs Wolves

Chelsea’s next Premier League game is against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday, January 27, who have lost six of their last nine in the league, winning just once.

Interesting to note is that Wolves’ last win was against the Blues in the reverse fixture at Molineux in December.

Wolves are also struggling for form, are without star man Raul Jimenez and Chelsea are the home team, they have to pick up maximum points and use the clash with Nuno Espirito Santo’s side as a catalyst for change.

Chelsea vs Burnley

The last of three successive home games in less than a week, Burnley visit Stamford Bridge for Chelsea’s final match of January.

Given the Clarets’ current league position (17th), the visit of Sean Dyche’s side is another must-win game for Lampard.

Burnley are renowned for making life difficult for their opponents, Chelsea have enough quality, just as they showed at Turf Moor in the reverse fixture in October, to get past them and register another three-point haul.

Anything less than six points from the back-to-back home clashes with Wolves and Burnley is likely to cause a shift in Chelsea’s managerial position.