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#3 Chelsea show a marked improvement in defence
Despite making considerable additions to the squad over the summer, questions were being asked of Chelsea’s shaky defence at the start of the season.
A 2-0 defeat at home to Liverpool and successive 3-3 draws against West Bromwich Albion and Southampton shone the spotlight on the Blues' defence, causing some concern for the club.
However, drafting in Edouard Mendy to replace the struggling Kepa Arrizabalaga in goal and adding the experience of Thiago Silva in defence seems to have been a masterstroke from Frank Lampard. Chelsea's defensive displays have undergone a miraculous transformation in the past couple of weeks.
Since the draw against Southampton, Chelsea’s new-look defence has secured four straight clean sheets - two in the league and two in the Champions League. Mendy is yet to concede in the Premier League while Silva has not only been dominant in defence but also seems to have improved the performances of Kurt Zouma too.
With a secure defence to go along with a plethora of attacking options up front, Frank Lampard will surely be looking to make a real push for silverware this season.
#4 Burnley struggling with a lack of squad depth
With the 2020-21 season compressed as it is, teams have to deal with an incessant barrage of fixtures, which is where having a large squad to call upon is extremely useful for a Premier League manager.
However, limited transfer activity and unfortunate injuries to players have adversely affected Burnley’s squad depth this season, with Sean Dyche having a limited number of options to choose from.
While his Chelsea counterpart was able to call upon an excellent mix of experienced internationals and highly-coveted youngsters in naming his playing-XI and bench, Dyche did not have a similar quality of squad at his disposal.
The Burnley boss has had to name teenagers with no Premier League experience on his bench to make up the numbers and is only a couple of injuries or suspensions away from having to dig further into Burnley’s youth teams in order to make up his Premier League matchday squads.
With his side already at the bottom of the Premier League table at this early stage and no ease-up forthcoming in the congested 2020-21 calendar, the Clarets will have to pull off something quite remarkable if they are to turn things around.
#5 Frank Lampard still figuring out his best eleven
While most Premier League managers would be quite happy to have a star-studded squad like Chelsea’s at their disposal, it does come with its own share of selection headaches.
With no shortage of talent in any department for Frank Lampard to choose from, the Chelsea boss has been seen to switch between various combinations of players and formations to find the best for his side.
The Blues have taken to the field with a back three and a back four at various points in the season, while their starting lineups have been changed fairly often as well.
For instance, in an effort to get new signing Timo Werner up and running in England, Lampard has used him through the middle as a central striker as well as on the left with Tammy Abraham playing through the middle, which was the case against Burnley.
Additionally, players returning from injuries such as Christian Pulisic, Hakim Ziyech and Ben Chilwell have given Lampard further food for thought as they stake their own claims for regular game-time.
As of now, Lampard seems to be close to finding his best formation and combination of players but does not seem to have hit upon the exact formula just yet. However, the problem of plenty is a problem that many managers would be happy to deal with, and Frank Lampard surely will too.
