FA Cup semi-final result will have no bearing on Premier League top-four battle: Frank Lampard
Jul 19, 2020
London [UK], July 19 : Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has said that the result of the FA Cup semi-final will have no bearing on the eventual Premier League top-four battle.
His remark comes as Chelsea is slated to face Manchester United in the semi-finals of the FA Cup later on Sunday.
In the Premier League standings, Chelsea and Manchester United are currently placed at the third and fifth spots respectively. Both the teams would be looking to finish in the top four to cement a place in the Champions League.
"I generally think it has no bearing. This is a competition in itself. We all know what's at stake and what's at stake is a place in the final. The next two games will come very quickly after that and each of us will deal with it in our own way," Goal.com quoted Lampard as saying.
"Obviously, there are the physical demands of the game that will have a small effect may be on the Wednesday game that we play next week. We will have to deal with that and get on with it. Other than that, I am not sure it will have much bearing," he added.
Lampard also said that the attacking players of United have been doing their job very well and the Chelsea manager also praised United's, Bruno Fernandes.
"We all know their front three are playing very, very well, the amount of goals they've put together has been amazing. So we have to understand that and work against that," Lampard said.
"They do have a strong team throughout, their midfield is functioning very well now, the introduction of Bruno Fernandes gave them a huge boost in January, I think everyone's seen that. So we need a complete performance to challenge Manchester United," he added.
Chelsea has played against Manchester United three times this season in the Premier League and Carabao Cup, and they have lost all three matches.
In the first semi-final of the FA Cup, Arsenal managed to stun Manchester City 2-0 at the Wembley Stadium.
