Pat Nevin has tipped Frank Lampard to recall Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount and Mateo Kovacic for Chelsea’s Champions League clash against Krasnodar.
The Blues travel to Russia on Wednesday night for their second European encounter of the 2020-21 campaign, having drawn 0-0 with Sevilla last week.
Lampard’s side also played out a goalless draw with Premier League rivals Manchester United on Saturday.
Abraham, Mount and Kovacic all started on the bench against United but Nevin reckons they could return to the starting XI against Krasnodar.
‘The starting XI for this one will take a great deal of thought from Frank,’ former Chelsea winger Nevin said.
‘Having drawn with Sevilla, three points would be very handy here, but he has to be careful not to push players too far this early in the season.
‘I am sure he will want as many youthful, energetic and tireless legs on the field as possible, so I will not be surprised if the young guns such as Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount are used from the start.
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‘Then of course there are the likes of Mateo Kovacic, who could really do with another 90 minutes pretty soon. He should also have plenty of energy to spare.
‘It doesn’t matter that the lads will be in the most comfortable airplane in the skies, travelling is tiring, especially when it involves crossing time zones.’
Nevin also says Chelsea should have been awarded a penalty during their goalless draw with Manchester United when Harry Maguire ‘wrestled’ Cesar Azpilicueta in the box.
‘Even though a draw was a fair result, the failure to award a penalty to Cesar Azpilicueta was a long way from being fair,’ Nevin added.
‘It really did look much closer to wrestling than football, and it is beyond me that the Video Assistant Referee came to the same conclusion as the on-field referee.
‘That is not a problem with the VAR system itself, that is basic human error.’
