Frank Lampard has claimed Callum Hudson-Odoi is playing better than ever at Chelsea despite not being a regular starter for the Blues this season. The 20-year-old has played just nine times so far in the Premier League but started to find some form when coming off the bench to make an impact against Arsenal, grabbing an assist for a late Tammy Abraham consolation. The winger scored a consolation goal of his own against Manchester City when coming off the bench and also bagged a goal and an assist in the FA Cup as Chelsea swept past Morecambe. But he was back on the bench for the narrow win against Fulham on Saturday as Lampard started Christian Pulisic once again, who hasn’t netted since the win against Leeds United more than a month ago.
Frank Lampard said “He’s definitely playing well and improving but I think it is a lazy stat, the one about scoring when he’s on the pitch, If he’s directly involved in goals and assists then that’s a good start and he is doing that. He is playing at a really high level in terms of where we saw him last year, recovering from an injury. I think, visually, his confidence to go one v one and beat a man, that’s what he has to be about and last season it wasn’t quite there. He’s young and came off the back of a bad injury but now we are starting to see it come back. When he scored against Morecambe,I know it’s Morecambe, he broke the line and he is doing it much more regularly. His progression is there, he is getting his chances and he will get more chances. We had Christian Pulisic last year come to the club and have a really good record last season, best of his career. Hakim Ziyech has come and has had a good patch. Callum has raised his game and he will absolutely get opportunities, he is playing well, there is no doubt. He is playing better than I have seen him play for us and really contributing. That is through his own hard work. It is good to see.”