Frank Lampard explains why he has not been picking Christian Pulisic lately, says he’s part of his plan

Frank Lampard has explained why the United States star Christian Pulisic has not been playing lately, stating that he will get his chance soon.

The American has not played a single minute of Chelsea’s last three matches after failing to make much of an impact to date, report the Daily Star.

Pulisic is yet to score for the Blues – though he has contributed a couple of assists.

However, Lampard has moved to reassure the youngster – who turned 21 last week.

Asked why he’s not been involved, Lampard said: “(He’s) Not a victim of the injuries, but just that I have a squad to pick from.

“He played before that a few games, Willian has come back in and been sharp and good.

“I decided to go with Mason today because we needed to stay strong in midfield and push Mason up higher up the pitch.

“It is just my choice to make and he will get ample opportunities. He is a young player.

“As much as everyone is talking about Mason, Tammy, Tomori, he is younger than some of them so his chances will come.”

Frank Lampard reacts to Jose Mourinho’s fear Chelsea losing their ‘big club status’over club fans clapping players off the pitch

Blues manager Frank Lampard had a different take to Jose Mourinho on the Chelsea fans clapping the players off the pitch following defeat by Liverpool.

The Blues played well on the weekend despite succumbing to defeat by the European champions, and the Chelsea fans were understanding after the game.

Reacting to the defeat, and the reaction from the fans, Lampard told Chelsea TV: “Firstly the positives, the performance was really good.

“The second half was great. The crowd don’t applaud a team off unless they deserve it. Fans react to passion, energy and desire.

“It’s a difficult situation being 2-0 down and it’s easy to go under against a team of that strength and we went the other way, so there were loads of good things.”

Former Chelsea boss Mourinho saw the reaction from the fans slightly differently to Lampard, and suggested supporters accepting defeats is a concern, report the Mirror.

Mourinho said on Sky Sports: “I hope they don’t get used to it, that’s a very important thing.

“When you start accepting defeats just because your team played well or the players gave their best and gave a performance for people to be proud of in terms of attitude and commitment – I think when you get used to it is when big clubs stop being big clubs.”

N’Golo Kante reveals players’ decision during half-time break in dressing room after going down 2-0 against Liverpool

Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante has revealed the mood of his teammates in the dressing room during the first-half break after trailing Liverpool by two goals.

First-half goals from Trent Alexander-Arnold and Roberto Firmino helped leaders Liverpool defeat Chelsea 2-1 to extend their winning streak to 15 Premier League matches.

Liverpool went ahead after 14 minutes from a cleverly-worked free-kick, Mohamed Salah back-heeling the ball to Alexander-Arnold who fired into the top corner.

Chelsea thought they had equalised through Cesar Azpilicueta, but the goal was overturned by VAR after Mason Mount was adjudged to be offside during the build-up.

It was 2-0 moments later, Firmino heading in Andrew Robertson’s cross.

Chelsea pulled a goal back on 71 minutes after Kante worked some space and found the top corner from just outside the penalty area, but Liverpool held on to maintain their 100 per cent record.

Kante had excelled in the UEFA Super Cup match against Liverpool in the Blues second match of the season but then after the domestic game that followed he was out for five weeks while his injuries were overcome.

After his return this weekend, with characteristic modesty he did not want to talk in detail about his goal but he did look at the bigger picture.

“It was good to come back,” Kante said.

“I was happy to come back in front of our fans and for this big game. I am disappointed by the result but I am happy to be back to help the team to try to win.

“We tried our best during the game and we are disappointed by the result. With the two set-pieces they scored they put us in difficulty but had some good chances.

“As soon as they scored to make it 2-0, we went in the changing room believing all together that we can do it and as soon as I scored, we had the chance to come back into the game but we were not able to get the result we wanted.’

Looking at the free-kicks that put the Reds in the ascendency, Kante makes a distinction between the two goals.

“The first one was a beautiful goal but the second one we maybe could do better but at the end, we played well, we tried to come back but the set-pieces meant Liverpool won.

‘We played very well in the second half. We were able to score one but not to equalise, but there were some good points in the performance and we need to take those points on to have a good result in the next game. If we keep working this way we can get a win in our next game.’

That next outing is at home to League Two Grimsby Town on Wednesday in the Carabao Cup where Kante and his colleagues will be aiming for a first home win of the season.

In the Premier League, Chelsea face Brighton at home on Saturday.

“It is not a great start, we have work to do,” Kante admits.

“We are not where we want to be but we can fight and change this in the next games.”

Jurgen Klopp reacts to how Chelsea played against Liverpool, says “N’Golo Kante is always fit for Liverpool”

Jürgen Klopp revelled in a ‘big’ result after Liverpool extended their 100 per cent winning start to the Premier League season to six games with a hard-earned 2-1 victory at Chelsea on Sunday.

First-half goals from Trent Alexander-Arnold and Roberto Firmino put the Reds two goals to the good at the interval.

Chelsea – earlier denied an equaliser by VAR – fought back strongly in the second period, however, and halved the deficit with a little under 20 minutes left to play through N’Golo Kante.

Klopp’s team then successfully withstood late pressure from the hosts to claim a sixth successive Premier League win at the start of 2019-20 and 15th overall in the top flight – a result that restores their five-point cushion at the top of the table.

“Chelsea had their moments, of course, because they are just a good team,” Klopp said.

“Two wonderful goals, a lot of brilliant pressing situations where we won the ball in the perfect space but then we didn’t use the ball and that situation well enough; we could have had much [more] chances in these situations.

“After half-time, two big chances, could have been three and four, but we didn’t score so it was clear the game was still open and when Kante scored his wonderful goal then it was clear ‘game on, let’s go for it’.

“Chelsea did that, we had to defend it and that’s a job to do. It is a difficult place to come, it is a while ago we won here, so it feels big, to be honest. It’s a big one.

“Today was a different game against a really exciting team. N’Golo Kante, I am not sure he played any league games but against us he is always playing!

“He is always fit for Liverpool; hopefully he can stay fit now because he is a really good player.

“Mason Mount was a surprise obviously with the situation [against Valencia] and how he twisted his ankle and then being on the pitch today, it was really a surprise. In the end, we reacted well, adapted well to the different situations and I think we were deserved winners today.”