“Nip at their heels” Pundit urges Lampard to start Chelsea star against Real Madrid

Chris Sutton has asked Frank Lampard to play for Chelsea against Real Madrid

Chris Sutton has asked Frank Lampard to play N’Golo Kante in the Chelsea midfield when they take on Real Madrid in the Champions League Round of Eight first leg on Wednesday night.

Due to a knee injury that required surgery, Kante missed much of Chelsea’s campaign and even the FIFA World Cup 2022. Nonetheless, the midfielder made his first appearance since returning from injury against Liverpool and demonstrated what the Blues’ midfield was missing with a strong performance.

Nevertheless, out of prudence, Lampard omitted the 32-year-old from their 1-0 loss to the Wolves. Kante, though, has travelled to Spain this week with a 24-man Chelsea team to face Real Madrid.

And Sutton wrote to Daily Mail, asking the 44-year-old to play Kante because he believed the midfielder might benefit Chelsea against Real Madrid.

Kante certainly is a player for the big games and has proven himself to be a serial winner on all fronts. Having him marshall the midfield will certainly give Chelsea a shot against Luka Modric and Toni Kroos.

“N’Golo Kante has trained ahead of this first leg, and that could be huge. Two years ago, when Chelsea beat Real in the semi-finals, Kante was man of the match in both legs, and again in the final against Manchester City.

“Kante will be itching to nip at their heels. It may be a gamble to start him after his injury, but he is the supreme ballwinner to thwart Modric and Co.”

Kante wasn’t used in the Wolves game because Lampard wanted the 32-year-old to be completely fit since he thinks the Frenchman will be the Real Madrid midfield’s Achilles heel. But that doesn’t mean Carlo Ancelotti will always start Toni Kroos and Luka Modric; they also have Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni, who are starting to emerge as important players.

But Kante’s presence in the middle of the pitch will make Chelsea’s job a bit simpler since he will act as a sweeper, recover the ball, and distribute it to Enzo Fernandez so he’s able to feed the attackers.

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We have quality players, and if they can demonstrate their credentials in this match, then we have a chance to prevail. Kante or not Chelsea will have to go into the game believing in themselves.