‘The revenge is now’: Aubameyang predicts who will win tomorrow clash between Arsenal and Chelsea
Chelsea caretaker manager Frank Lampard says he could consider selecting Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang against Arsenal due to the ‘certain motivation’ he will have playing against his former club.
The 33-year-old forward spent four years at Arsenal and captained the club to FA Cup success in 2020, before being stripped of the captaincy and departing the club by mutUal consent in February 2022.
Aubameyang has scored once in 14 Premier League appearances for Chelsea this season following his summer move from Barcelona, but Lampard said he was in his thinking for Tuesday night’s trip for the Emirates.
“Possibly, because we all think sometimes a player going back to their old club gives a certain motivation,” Lampard said. “I haven’t delved into that too much with Auba himself, so I’ll pick that position based on my feeling of how they’ve trained and what the team structure looks like.”
Lampard also confirmed that defender Kalidou Koulibaly is set to miss the remainder of the 2022-23 season with a hamstring injury.
The 31-year-old centre-back sustained the injury in the first leg of Chelsea’s Champions League quarter-final defeat to Real Madrid
Koulibaly was forced off after 55 minutes at the Bernabeu after pulling up following a sprint and has missed Chelsea’s last three matches.
“Koulibaly is out for a while still. I think it will be a tight call for the end of the season. He’s working away (from the group),” Lampard said.
“I’ve been impressed with him as a professional, he’s doing his job very well, but unfortunately the injury was a tough one.
Lampard confirmed that Marc Cucurella could return soon, having missed Chelsea’s defeat to Brentford with a quadriceps injury he picked up in training.
Kai Havertz is in contention to return against Arsenal after sitting out his side’s last two matches with a knee injury.
“Cucurella is probably another two weeks or so,” Lampard added. “Kai is in contention for the game, he’s trained.”
