Chelsea coach Frank Lampard said his team is sorely lacking the creativity of injured winger Hakim Ziyech,
who may return to the squad in the next match against Manchester City on Sunday.
Ziyash fell out with a hamstring injury in Chelsea’s victory over Leeds United on December 5th. Chelsea
has won only once in five league matches since then, lost three, and tied 1-1 today, Monday, with Aston Villa.
“I think that, with Hakim and the way he plays, he was a very influential player in terms of making goals,
chances and scoring goals,” Lampard said.
“We were playing very smoothly at the time. We badly miss players like him and are waiting for his return.”
Lampard expressed his hope that Ziyech would participate on Sunday if the match held on schedule after
Manchester City and Everton confrontation postponed on Monday due to reports of new cases of
Coronavirus emerging in City’s ranks.
Chelsea manager paid tribute to another winger Callum Hudson-Odoi after his rare starting Monday,
following his substitute in the second half of a 3-1 defeat by Arsenal on Saturday.
“Passing and finishing attacks are important in the game,” Lampard said, urging Hudson-Odoi to create
chances for his teammates and score.
“If you look at the statistics of the most prominent players who occupied the winger position in
the Premier League in recent years, you will find that Callum of course has the capabilities required
to move to the next stage in his development,” he added.
