Speculation swirls about Frank Lampard’s future at Chelsea with the name of the favorite to replace him

Frank Lampard’s position as Chelsea manager is coming under increased scrutiny after his team fell in a 2-0 loss at Leicester when the Foxes rose to the top of the table.

Ilfred Ndidi and James Maddison scored to beat Chelsea, condemning another loss and leaving the Foxes one point ahead of Manchester United, having played one more match, although Manchester City will go up if they beat Aston Villa on Wednesday.

While the title conversation is bubbling in Leicester, a very different emotion washed over Lampard after his latest loss, with speculation that he might be running out of time at Chelsea.

The loss was the sixth of the season and left the Blues eighth in the top flight, five points behind the top four as the pressure on boss Lampard mounted.

“I can’t get caught up in what the reaction will be. I accepted this job knowing that there will be difficult times. For now we have to fight,” he said.

“Where things were rosy in December, now they are not rosy. When you play well like us, you relax and calm down and this game kicks your butt.

“I’m able to handle the pressure. I could feel these periods coming and that’s all I can worry about.

“There are players who are not playing as well as they should, that is a simple fact.

“I am disappointed with both goals. We know we can compete with Leicester when we are playing well, but when you are down 2-0 and are in a difficult period of form, it greatly affects the game.

“The players know that they were defeated by a better team, a team that we are behind and one that we want to catch. The general theme of our performance was slow and slow.”

“It’s not where we want to be. I’m worried. From the way we were getting so fast to the way we are now, even with the Fulham win.” [on Saturday] and some other wins there, we should be better than losing five out of eight.

“It’s a young team. They won’t feel good. I’m not against the guys in the locker room. They will have learned a lesson.

“The basics and the bare minimum are running, sprinting and covering ground, and many of our players didn’t.

José Mourinho’s last game as Chelsea manager in 2015 took place at Leicester’s King Power Stadium and history may well repeat itself now, with a surprise name leading the betting with Paddy Power to succeed Lampard.