Chelsea young guns face big test

– Chelsea’s young guns will test their run of form at one of the homes of youth development today as they attempt to stop an Ajax team on course to replicate last season’s thrilling Champions League run.

The Blues are on a five-match winning streak in all competitions after beating Newcastle United 1-0 last weekend but come up against the Group H leaders in Amsterdam

Ajax are averaging more than three goals a game and are hungry for European success after semifinal heartache last season.

Fikayo Tomori, Ross Barkley, Mason Mount (right), Callum Hudson-Odoi and Tammy Abraham started in last Saturday’s win at Stamford Bridge – the first time since 2013 five English players made the London club’s starting XI.

They are second on three points in Group H after a wobbly opening two games in the Champions League, with a pair of matches coming up against onfire Ajax that could decide their European destiny.

Coach Frank Lampard told the

Amsterdam

Chelsea website: “They’re such a strong team... The movement of the team and the way they play football will be a big test for us.”

Abraham, 22, has stolen the headlines with eight goals in nine league appearances – and the opener in Chelsea’s 2-1 win in Lille – and Lampard called him a “sponge” for his capacity to learn.

“He wants to listen, to get better, to score more goals, improve his game and help his teammates,” added Lampard.

Four of those Saturday starters are academy products who have flourished under Chelsea’s new boss, who has dealt with the loss of Eden Hazard and a Uefa-imposed transfer ban by pushing the Premier League club’s youth products to centre stage.

Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger are two of a string of Chelsea absentees which also includes midfield lynchpin N’Golo Kante and another academy product Ruben Loftus-Cheek, while Barkley and Cesar Azpilicueta are also doubts for the match. –