Towards the end of last season, Frank Lampard led his Everton side to beat Chelsea 1-0 at the Goodison Park.

With Everton set to host Chelsea again at the Goodison Park for our opening game of the season, Lampard has spoken on the need to have that defensive solidity yet again, and then hit Chelsea on the break.

“I think defensively, in terms of the structure of the team, I think we’re in a similar position,” he added. “You just have to understand that Chelsea are a very good team in possession and if you expose yourself too much, they’ve got players who are so comfortable and their team is so connected that they can find pockets against the best teams.

“For us in terms of the template of that game I think it’ll be, in general, pretty important to stick to the discipline that we showed in that game and the work ethic.

“On the ball there are some differences and changes we have worked on in pre-season, and could affect how the game looks in terms of our possession.

“But in a lot of these games you have a structure and the game will happen, the players will have to find different solutions. Here we have a lot of the same players truly so I think in terms of how we approach the game it will be a similar mentality.

“But we want to be competitive in the game, there’s no doubt, and have as much possession as we possibly can. That generally means you’re keeping them away from your goal.

“Being able to play at Goodison and excite our fans, whether we play with an organised team that’s ready to counter-attack quickly or whether we’re playing with a bit more bravery than maybe we had in the tense moments last season to move the ball through the pitch.

“I think the mentality of not being in the situation we were in at that stage, we were five points short of safety, you’re only human and that can affect your decision-making. So maybe we can be more brave and more positive with some of that decision-making.”