Frank Lampard Admits Chelsea Are Already Falling Victim to Festive Fatigue

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has admitted there was an element of fatigue is his side’s performance in Tuesday night’s Premier League defeat to Wolves.

It was the fifth game that Chelsea have played in December, with three more still to come, and marked a second consecutive defeat, having previously gone 17 unbeaten in all competitions -excluding a penalty shootout defeat in the Carabao Cup.

Chelsea took the lead against Wolves at Molineux through the resurgent Olivier Giroud, but Daniel Podence pulled one back for the hosts and Pedro Neto won it deep into stoppage time.

“There could be some fatigue," Lampard is quoted as saying by BBC Sport.

"I hate to say it after a defeat because it feels like an excuse but even in the first 60 minutes when we were the better team, we didn't have a zip about us.

“We've travelled up to Everton, came back and then travelled to Wolves but everyone is in the same boat. We have a couple of injuries in areas which means I can't make too many changes so I understand that side of it.”

Chelsea are still to see the best from summer signings Timo Werner or Kai Havertz. Werner hasn’t scored since a flurry of goals in October and early November, while Havertz hasn’t found the net since he returned to action following a bout of coronavirus.

N’Golo Kante admitted that Chelsea’s desire to try and beat Wolves and being pulled back to 1-1 was probably what cost them the game. Despite committing men forward to get the next goal, they couldn’t make the breakthrough and were ultimately left too exposed defensively.

“In the first half, they had five at the back and were defending very well so we weren’t able to have many chances. We were happy to score with our first shot on target but we didn’t manage the result well,” the French midfielder said, via ChelseaFC.com.

“When they scored, we tried to come back but by trying to win the game we conceded many counter-attacks and they scored a late goal.”

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