Chelsea: 5 key takeaways from victory over Manchester United

5. Does 3-4-3 suit Chelsea better than 4-3-3?

Having lost to Ole and United three times already this season, each time falling victim to their counterattacks, Lampard opted to play with three centre-backs to nullify that threat, and it worked.

Azpilicueta completely locked down Marcus Rashford, while on the other side Rudiger and Alonso made light work of Daniel James. Jorginho and Kovacic took care of Fernandes, and that freed up Mount, Giroud and Willian to conjure up attack after attack.

In each previous game against United, the Blues played a 4-3-3, and it worked against them, but the 3-4-3 led Chelsea to a comfortable win, which begs the question: which is better in the long term?

The answer is that they work differently against different types of opponents. For example, after successfully using the 3-4-3 against Spurs in December, Lampard assumed it would also work against Southampton, but they lost 2-0.

This is because Southampton is a more defensive team, and they are not a significant threat to Chelsea’s defence, so the extra centre-back is not required and leaves Chelsea with far less creativity to break down a team.

However, against other top teams where the games are more open, the wingbacks help Chelsea take advantage of spaces out wide, while the additional centre-back comes in handy to deal with talented attackers, as it did for Rashford and Anthony Martial.

Against English and European champions Liverpool, it would not be a surprise if Lampard opts for the back three again, especially since their biggest threat is out wide, with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, as well as the fullbacks.

Alonso and James could deal with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson, while Rudiger and Azpilicueta would man-mark Salah and Mane, with Zouma behind them to provide additional cover.

The 3-4-3 is a useful weapon for Chelsea to use at times, but the 4-3-3 still appears to be Lampard’s preferred formation, as it should be.

Lampard and Chelsea pulled off a very impressive victory over United, and now they have three more critical games to finish off the season on a high note. One win against Liverpool or Wolves clinches Champions League qualification.

Lampard said it himself, there are three more finals for Chelsea to navigate. Win and the Blues are third and FA Cup winners, but lose and they have nothing. It’s all down to what happens in the next ten days.