Tuchel set to take over as Lampard is axed by Chelsea

Frank Lampard has been sacked by Chelsea following the club’s poor run of form.

Lampard, who was appointed 18 months ago, guided a team to a top-four finish last season despite a transfer ban and his team topped the table earlier in this campaign.

However, that form has tailed off despite a summer of huge expenditure with Timo Werner, Ben Chilwell, Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech brought to the club for over 250 million, with the Blues siting in ninth spot and having lost five of their last eight matches.

On Sunday, a Tammy Abraham hat-trick edged Chelsea past Luton in the fourth round of the FA Cup, but the win seems to have come too late to save Lampard from the axe.

Former PSG and Borussia Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel is widely expected to be named as Lampard’s successor.

Lampard had been in defiant mood, insisting he could handle the pressure of the job and turn things around.

Speaking at his post-match press conference after the recent loss to Leicester, he declared: “We just have to fight. I’m not the only manager to be put under this sort of pressure.

“The lucky thing for me is that I’m good at handling pressure. I could sense that these periods would come.

“That’s all I have to concern myself with – how to deal with this and get us out of it.”

Lampard also dismissed suggestions his players have been letting him down.

But he admitted: “There are players that are not playing as well as they should be. Simple fact.”