Sky Sports will show 64 live Premier League games when season resumes; 25 matches available on both Sky Sports Premier League and Sky's free-to-air Pick channel
Friday 3 July 2020 18:35, UK
The Premier League is back - but what shape are Chelsea in for the season restart?
Ahead of the Premier League's return, we run the rule over Frank Lampard's side, from fixtures and fitness to the manager's view and more...
Chelsea resume with a trip to Aston Villa, live on Sky Sports, on Sunday June 21.
A London derby with West Ham United also is being shown by Sky Sports on Wednesday July 1, with a league trip to Manchester City and an FA Cup quarter-final at Leicester on Sunday June 28 (4pm kick-off) between those Sky games.
Lampard's team still must go to Liverpool and also face crunch clashes against Sheffield United and Wolves in the race for European qualification.
Frank Lampard's methodology, coaching acumen and relationship with the Chelsea fans has obviously provided the hierarchy enough evidence to make him the man for the long-term at the club.
With transfer riches available and new stars set to join late summer, these last nine games will be a good test of his management mettle at the top level as he looks to steer the Chelsea ship into the Champions League places. It would be a feat that deserves credit considering he's had to put faith in some inexperienced members of his squad to play leading roles at various points of the campaign.
But understandably much of the focus at Stamford Bridge will be surrounding plans for Chelsea to spend big in order to break the Liverpool and Manchester City dominance. Lampard might just be the right man, at the right place, at the right time as Chelsea look to storm the top table.
Lewis Jones
Aston Villa vs Chelsea
Kick-Off: 8.15pm; Live on Sky Sports and Sky Pick
Chelsea v Man City
Kick-Off: 4.15pm
West Ham vs Chelsea
Kick-Off: 8.15pm; Live on Sky Sports and Sky Pick
Chelsea vs Watford
Kick-Off: 8pm; Live on Sky Sports
Crystal Palace vs Chelsea
Kick-Off: 6pm; Live on Sky Sports
Sheffield United vs Chelsea
Kick-Off: 5.30pm; Live on Sky Sports
Chelsea vs Watford
Crystal Palace vs Chelsea
Sheffield United vs Chelsea
Chelsea vs Norwich
Liverpool vs Chelsea
Chelsea vs Wolves
Bournemouth vs Chelsea
Lampard's team are currently fourth - three points ahead of fifth-placed Manchester United as the battle for the Champions League places will take centre stage towards the top of the table after the restart.
A fifth-placed finish could seal Champions League football if Manchester City's European ban - one they are appealing - is upheld.
City's potential ban - and the fact that they have already won the Carabao Cup - could deliver Europa League football for the sides that finish sixth and seventh and there might yet be further reward, although, Chelsea would have to suffer a huge loss in form of being in danger of dropping out of the top five.
Chelsea are favourites to land fourth spot, behind Leicester, but Manchester United still have a 27 per cent chance of achieving a top-four finish, according to modelling by Experimental361.
Chelsea are in the last eight of the FA Cup - a competition they have won eight times.
Their quarter-final tie against Leicester at The King Power will take place on June 27/28, with the semi-finals and finals scheduled at Wembley on July 18/19 and August 1 respectively.
Chelsea also remain in the Champions League, but their involvement in the competition was already looking precarious prior to the coronavirus pandemic following their 3-0 defeat to Bayern Munich at Stamford Bridge in the first leg of their first-knockout stage tie.
Before the suspension of the season, Chelsea had several players struggling with injuries but the break has worked out well for the club in that regard. Ruben Loftus-Cheek has spent the entire campaign recovering from his Achilles' tendon rupture but is back in full training now, while Christian Pulisic hasn't played since New Year's Day but also is back albeit will be lacking match practice. Top scorer Tammy Abraham suffered an ankle injury while playing against Arsenal but has now fully recovered.
There is an issue over N'Golo Kante, however, with the World Cup winner carrying concerns around the Covid-19 virus.
Chelsea enjoyed a 4-0 victory over Everton in their final game before the suspension but had slipped up on the road before that with a 2-2 draw against Bournemouth and a 1-0 reverse at Newcastle leaving Lampard with a few issues to ponder.
"One of the things for me as a manager that I've learnt in this two-month period is that communication is so key," Lampard said.
"When we went into isolation we all felt like we went into this crazy bubble that we're not used to. Me sending messages to the players and asking how they felt was so important.
"I didn't want to bombard them so they were bored of me but I did want them to know that I'm here. As the talk of restarting came it was an important conversation that we had collectively. Everybody is different and we've seen that with the reaction of players and that has to be respected in all ways. We work every day as a family and a team and we'll respect everyone and how they feel about the restart and coming back to work."
Chelsea have perhaps surprised a few this season with their consistent top four challenge in Lampard's first season in the job having not spent a penny in the last transfer window.
Chelsea to finish in the top four - 8/13 with Sky Bet
Sky Sports will show 64 live Premier League games when the season resumes. In addition to the 39 matches already scheduled to be broadcast exclusively live on Sky Sports before the coronavirus interruption, 25 more matches will be available on both Sky Sports Premier League and Sky's free-to-air Pick channel, allowing the whole nation to be part of the return of live sport.
