Chelsea host Crystal Palace in their first London derby of the new season, and here are some things to look out for in the match.

Evidence, appearances and experiments will be in the near future as Lampard’s Blue Corps strives for a positive result to end the somewhat disappointing first month of the 2020/21 season. The mood of optimism created by Chelsea’s transition period over Stamford Bridge was refreshing. For once, it seemed there were less serious debates within the fanbase and somewhat healthy support for the man in command, Frank Lampard.

But within four weeks, that health support quickly became an unnecessary suspicion, as the pressure continues on the young manager’s shoulders. Will his players finally bear the burden of their inconsistent performances or will Chelsea head into the international break as drama ramps up? Novels, novels and more novels dominate the day of the palace derby. Here are three things to look for:

1. Final turning threads

In terms of team selections, the starting line-up for Lampard, the bench or the mobile team against Palace could provide some accurate evidence of transfers before the day of the summer transfer deadline. Questions arose when Ross Barkley was not used as a substitute in their midweek loss to Tottenham. Chelsea were desperate for new legs from the bench to regain control of midfield, but Lampard logically refused to bring Barclay in, as he had previously done.

The answer is very simple. Barclay was heading to Aston Villa On loan.

While most fans were shocked by the surprise of the move, his lack of play against Tottenham seemed like very clear evidence that no one seemed to pick him up. With question marks surrounding the future of a handful of Chelsea players, even at this point out of the window, expect Lampard to drop multiple hints about transfers with his team picking on Saturday.

Maybe Jorginho will miss Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain and find himself a replacement Teimoy Bakayoko in the team. Victor Moses may take Callum Hudson-Odoi’s place on the team as the last in the end He moves to Germany. Maybe Emerson and Alonso co-pilot a jet plane to Italy while Ian Maatsen crashes in the first-team scene – or maybe nothing happens at all. If Declan Rice remains at West Ham or Thomas Party at Atlético, the possibilities are endless.