Chelsea manager Frank Lampard admits four-goal hero Olivier Giroud has made a strong case to warrant a start in the Premier League this weekend.
Giroud scored a record-breaking four goals as Chelsea won 4-0 away to FC Sevilla in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night, confirming the Blues would win the group.
The quartet comes after the France international netted a last-gasp winner for Chelsea away to Stade Rennais in their last matchday.
Giroud is yet to start a Premier League game this season, with Timo Werner and Tammy Abraham preferred but he may get his chance on Saturday against Leeds United after that display.
“He’s certainly made a case. He couldn’t do anymore tonight,” Lampard said.
“We will have to see, because its such a tight turnaround, but of course four goals is hard to ignore.
“It wasn’t just his goals but his whole performance was brilliant and we had a lot of balance in our attacking play tonight.”
Lampard added: “To score four goals at this level is really impressive but the quality of his goals were fantastic too. Im delighted with him and Im delighted with the team to come to Sevilla, which is a tough place to come and put in a complete performance like we have done and win so convincingly, its fantastic.”
Elsewhere in Group E, Krasnodar beat Rennes 1-0 thanks to Marcus Berg’s strike to move into third spot with one game to play.
Manchester United slipped out of top spot in Group H after their 3-1 home loss to Paris Saint Germain, who moved up into first in their pool.
RB Leipzig blew their lead twice but won 4-3 at Istanbul Basaksehir to draw level on points with the top two sides in the group.
In Group F, Borussia Dortmund confirmed their progress despite a 1-1 home draw with Lazio, while Club Brugge thrashed struggling Zenit 3-0.
In Group G, Barcelona maintained their perfect record with a 3-0 win at Ferencvaros after three first-half goals, while Juventus eased past Dynamo Kiev 3-0 too.
