Lampard will be expecting 15-20 goals from a healthy Ruben Loftus-Cheek

It must be extra grating for Frank Lampard, Chelsea’s all-time leading goalscorer and probably the greatest midfield-goalscorer ever, to see such low production numbers from his midfielders, especially from open play.

Mateo Kovačić, Ross Barkley, and N’Golo Kanté have combined for just seven goals so far, which is as many as Jorginho has all by himself — but six of those have come from the penalty spot. And sure, Lampard was no stranger himself to scoring from 12 yards, he usually added even more from open play: he finished his Premier League career with 43 goals from the spot from exactly 50 tries, for example, to go with 134 goals from open play.

And even if Jorginho has been pulling his weight — his penalty-taking technique and record is nearly immaculate, and that’s a good asset to have — the others have not.

Fortunately, there’s hope on the horizon and we don’t even have to spend money on transfer fees to get it. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who’s set for a rehab start for the Development Squad (U23) as they take on Arsenal in the PL2 tonight, is getting closer to returning. And hopefully, he’ll pick up his goalscoring right where he left off last season, before suffering that most unfortunate Achilles rupture in May.

“Ruben’s never been a rack-up-numbers man but I’ll definitely speak to him. Can he get 15, 20 goals in a season? He’s got that in him.”

Lampard believes the 24-year-old will be just as motivated as his manager in that regard, to help fire Chelsea to more wins and help erase some of our frustrations with the team’s finishing and consistency. Goals win games, after all.

“From the conversations we’ve had, he wants it all. I remember watching Ruben score a hat-trick in the Europa League against BATE Borisov in October 2018. A couple were my kind of goals — six-yard box, bang. Nothing to shout about but I liked it.”

-Frank Lampard; source: Express

We can only wish to have so many goals that we don’t have to shout about them.

Good luck tonight, RLC!