Premier League 2019-20: The effect of Christian Pulisic's newfound goal-scoring form on Olivier Giroud's future at Chelsea

Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud could be far from breaking into Frank Lampard's starting lineup considering the form of the other attack-minded players in the team.

At the start of the season, the Frenchman had only Tammy Abraham to contend with for a place on the starting lineup. The young England international was firing from all cylinders, leaving Lampard with no option but to omit the Frenchman from his starting lineup.

Abraham's recent form hasn't been too impressive though, as he has scored just once in five Premier League matches, and many Chelsea fans were beginning to look in Giroud's direction for inspiration. Unfortunately for the Frenchman, the Blues got the needed inspiration from an unlikely source when Pulisic and Michy Batshuayi helped the team to a 1-0 victory over Ajax in one of the Champions League fixtures.

The two former Borussia Dortmund stars combined beautifully to score the only goal of the night when Pulisic's brilliant cross found an unmarked Batshuayi, who swiftly put the ball into the net.

The impressive display from the USA prodigy - who has been on the substitute bench for most of the season - was enough to win him a place in Lampard's starting XI against Burnley on Saturday.

The 21-year-old star scored a brilliant hat-trick to help the Blues recorded an emphatic 4-2 victory at Turf Moor. He has definitely cemented a spot in the first XI ahead of his experienced teammate, at least for the time being.

Giroud has fallen further down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge. He could find it even more difficult than before to break into the team because Pulisic's recent improved performances have a made the youngster a go-to player if Lampard is in dire need of a goalscorer.

To add to Giroud's woes, Batshuayi is also doing everything possible to nail down a spot in the team, like his wonderful cameo against the Eredivisie Champions during the week. Just like Giroud, the centre-forward hasn't been seeing regular game-time since the start of the season, but that could change should he continue to take every opportunity that comes his way.

It won't be out of place to suggest that Giroud could be in search of a new club in the next transfer market if he fails to get quality game-time during the busy festive period.

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Edited by Musab Abid