Chelsea’s Frank Lampard is open to giving Man City a guard of honour if they are champions by Sunday

Frank Lampard has said Chelsea could give Manchester City a guard of honour if the Citizens have wrapped up the Premier League title by then.  

Chelsea play Man City at the Etihad on Sunday afternoon – and a win for the hosts confirms the Citizens as Premier League champions for another year. It could be the first prong of a potential treble.

But Man City’s success could be confirmed a day early if Arsenal lose to Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Lampard said the club hadn’t discussed the idea, but would if the circumstances happened – because of the way it happened during his success as a Chelsea player. He said: ‘I haven’t but we could do. That has happened to me in my career.’

There’s no doubt that Manchester City have been one of the better performers across the whole season, and there is no doubt in the Chelsea manager’s mind that their consistency has made them one of the top teams in England.

Frank Lampard said Chelsea could give Manchester City a guard of honour if they win title

Man City would pick up the Premier League trophy with a win against Chelsea – if not sooner

‘They’re clearly a fantastic team and have been for a good while now,’ Lampard said. ‘They’ve done it on a consistent basis now and on those levels they maybe are close to the greatest.

‘Full respect for them. The form they’re in, you wouldn’t want to bet against them for anything.’

Man City’s record-breaking striker Erling Haaland has the same number of goals across the term as the entire Chelsea squad – and Lampard, who tried to bring the Norwegian to Stamford Bridge in his last stint as Blues boss, was full of praise.

The Chelsea manager said: ‘Credit to him , I love seeing players at that level with the hunger to be the best and in terms of dealing with him, you have to have a plan. I’m sure the players have a good awareness of him.’ 

Lampard added: ‘I don’t know if he would have decided to come anyway but I was a big fan. I was pushing big, he was the outstanding one.’ 

Lampard also discussed more about his attempts to sign Erling Haaland earlier in his career

Kalidou Koulibaly has been ahead of schedule with his training this week, but Lampard told reporters that the defender is not ready to play this weekend. 

Additionally, Benoit Badiashile injured himself in the week, and will play no part in proceedings at the Etihad on Sunday. 

Despite the challenging circumstances at Stamford Bridge, Lampard said he found some pleasure in taking on the mantle until the end of the season.  

‘I have enjoyed it,’ Lampard said. ‘You want to get results, there was the Champions League dream. We are where we are in the league for a reason. In terms of the rest of the job, how many small wins can I try and impact behind the scenes. There’s a lot of work to do here. When I walk away I want to be able to say I’ve done that.’