Lampard Considering New Role For Pulisic

Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has hinted he could deploy Christian Pulisic through the middle as a striker.

Lampard was unable to call on Tammy Abraham on Saturday and is toying with the idea of using Pulisic in his position.

Olivier Giroud was trusted to lead the line as Chelsea fell to a second successive defeat in the Premier League.

The Frenchman, making his first start since the 1-1 draw with Leicester on August 18, misfired as West Ham earned a 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge.

Michy Batshuayi, who has made eight league appearances from the bench, was an unused substitute over the weekend.

As Lampard looks to get Chelsea’s Premier League campaign back on track, he is considering different options in the forward line.

Lampard said:

“We’ll see [whether Pulisic could play through the middle]. He’s got an ability to run behind the line and to be sharp in central areas, which will naturally get him more goals but I’m not going to say right now that’s the solution. We’ll see going forward.”

The USA international has adapted well to life in England after being slowly introduced into the set up by Lampard.

Chelsea handed over £58million to bring in the winger from Borussia Dortmund in January, although he was loaned back to the Bundesliga outfit until the end of the 2018-19 campaign.

Lampard’s decision to hold him back initially seems to have worked and he has hit six goals in his last eight appearances, including a hat-trick in a 4-2 victory over Burnley on October 26.

The west London side return to action on Wednesday when they welcome newly-promoted Aston Villa to Stamford Bridge.

It’s understood that Abraham could come back into the squad after recovering from the hip injury he sustained against Valencia in the Champions League.

However, he may not be named in the starting XI and that would give Lampard the opportunity to switch things up.