Frank Lampard's men came from a goal to down to beat Dean Smith's Aston Villa on Sunday. Whilst the Blues fans are happy with the three points, it's quite clear what needs improving.

Unfortunately, Chelsea are going to have to sharpen up as soon as possible because Pep's Manchester City will be the Blues' next opponents. 

The game will take place at Stamford Bridge, with an 8:15 pm kick-off. Pep's side came out on top the last time these to faced each other.

That was back in December, with City going on to win 2:1. 

  • The defensive issue

But after watching the game on Sunday, there may be a slight concern for Frank Lampard. That concern will be the defensive situation.

It's all well and good wanting to dip in the market for an attacker and a midfielder, but when the defence is performing like that, questions should be raised.

Chelsea dominated the ball right from minute one but countless mistakes at that back allowed Dean Smith's side ways to get back into the game. Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger did not look comfortable at all last weekend. The defending was poor for the goal, and they lacked real composure on the ball.

For a club like Chelsea, it's a scary thought to go from the likes of Ivanovic, Terry, Cole, Carvalho to Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Christensen and Alonso. The club needs to sign some defenders.

With City on Thursday, the defence really needs to pick themselves up otherwise it'll be a bad night at the office for the Blues. They need to show real composure and assert themselves early on if they're going to get anything from Thursday's clash with City

  • City's form right now

For Pep's side, it's like Covid-19 has not dampened their style at all. They wiped the floor with Arsenal and defeated Burnley 5:0 last night, therefore they're certainly going to be up for this one.

Going forward, Chelsea has a lot of options, especially with the return of Ruben Loftus-Cheek. With City not replacing Kompany, Chelsea has an opportunity to cause problems for City's backline.  

Should Manchester United win at home to Sheffield United, the gap between the Blues and United will be down to two. Therefore Thursday's game with City is an important one for Lampard's boys in blue.

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