NO FANS, NO FEAR
Frank admission on goal explosion
FRANK LAMPARD is braced for a season of crazy results and huge scorelines.
Chelsea have already netted 13 times and conceded nine in five Premier League games.
And the free- scoring Blues start their European campaign tonight against Sevilla with Lampard convinced it is far from being just a coincidence.
He puts it down to a lack of preparation following a disrupted pre- season, the crowded fixture list and the fact no fans are allowed in stadiums, which nullifies home advantage.
Chelsea manager Lampard, right, said: “In terms of why we’re seeing so many goals in games – and I should talk about ourselves on this one – there has been a lack of preparation.
“If you have brought players in or are working on changes in the squad, then it’s a lot for new players to take on board and get used to. I think there’s an element of that for everybody.
“There’s been a change on that with the number of g goals, , the results we are seeing. eing. The fans are also a contributing factor.”
Lampard has built t one of the most attackminded teams in the e Premier League with h summer signings Timo mo Werner, Kai Havertz z and Hakim Ziyech giving Chelsea a host of options going forward.
But he also accepts they have not been good enough defensively, conceding 63 goals in his 43 ga games in charge. An And it does not take a gen genius to understand go goalkeeper Kepa A Arrizabalaga’s role in th that statistic. Lampard said: “It’s so something that needs to be worked on with time time. T Things like the 3- 3 draw with Southampton at the weekend was a lesson to be learnt – but that will come. In terms of the goals conceded, yes I am aware of the stats.
“However, the other stat is since we’ve been here, we’ve conceded the second fewest shots in the league behind Manchester City so sometimes it helps to narrow down some issues.
“Of course, we want to concede fewer goals – it will always be something that we work on as well as our attacking play.”