Journalist Simon Phillips has claimed that interim Chelsea manager Frank Lampard will revert to a back three in the club's next game.
What's the latest on Frank Lampard and Chelsea?
The 44-year-old has a big task on his hands right now as he looks to steady the ship with former head coach Graham Potter now fired.
Things under Lampard didn't get off to a good start as the Blues lost in the Premier League against Wolves, but he must put that disappointment behind him quickly.
Indeed, Chelsea now face a season-defining quarter-final clash with Real Madrid in the Champions League and travel to the Bernabeu on Wednesday for the first leg.
Naturally, the coach will have to think long and hard about his team selection. But it also seems as though Lampard is yet to decide what formation to play.
In a new article for GiveMeSport, Phillips revealed that the Englishman nearly played a back three against Wolves and may yet play it against Madrid.
He wrote: "Lampard changed the formation to his preferred 4-3-3, but I understand that him and his team had also heavily considered sticking with a back three and I'd be very surprised if they don't revert to that for the Real Madrid game on Wednesday night.
"After only having two training sessions, it was tough for Lampard to get his ideas across, and also he has yet to really assess his entire squad. Whilst he did work with some of them the first time around, there are also many new faces in a massively changed squad. Lampard has admitted that he hasn't had enough time to watch all of Chelsea's games this season, so he is very much giving them all a clean slate. This brings pros and cons, and some Chelsea fans have already been left frustrated by his first team selection back."
He added that the interim manager was "annoyed" during and after the Wolves game and won't be afraid to drop players once he's fully assessed the squad.
How will Chelsea line up against Real Madrid?
Against Wolves, Lampard did play a 4-3-3, as Phillips points out. But when in charge of Everton earlier this season, he was flexible enough to play a back five – or a back three depending on how you see it.
What's more, under Potter, Chelsea often abandoned the traditional back four. And so the current set of players should be well-equipped to go to either formation.
In potentially big news for the Blues, Thiago Silva returned to training Monday and so he is now in contention to play against Real Madrid, while N'Golo Kante and Mason Mount could also both feature.
No doubt this could have major impact on Lampard's plans. With Silva, for instance, he may feel as though his defence will have another quality without having to play that extra defender.
It will certainly be interesting to see how things play out.
