Lampard out, Ronaldo on the bench

Chelsea left grieving Frank Lampard out of their line-up for today’s Premier League title showdown against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.

Lampard was absent following the death of his mother on Thursday, while manager Avram Grant also omitted veteran Claude Makelele and Florent Malouda. Mikel John Obi, Michael Essien and Salomon Kalou were recalled.

United boss Alex Ferguson chose to leave Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench, although defender Nemanja Vidic was fit enough to resume his partnership with Rio Ferdinand in defence.

Chelsea: Cech, Ferreira, Carvalho, Terry, Ashley Cole, Ballack, Obi, Essien, Kalou, Drogba, Joe Cole.

Subs: Cudicini, Makelele, Shevchenko, Belletti, Anelka.

Man Utd: Van der Sar, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Silvestre, Fletcher, Carrick, Anderson, Nani, Rooney, Giggs.

Subs: Kuszczak, Hargreaves, Ronaldo, O’Shea, Tevez.

Referee: Alan Wiley (Staffordshire)