Lampard: I analyse United's fixtures online

“You’re analysing the fixtures to calculate how many points you’ll get. I’m certainly doing that," he says in the March issue of FourFourTwo.

"I’ll go online to look at our fixtures and then Manchester United’s fixtures to see where we can claw them back, and where they might drop points."

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The Blues are now a distant 12 points behind Sir Alex Ferguson's side following the Red Devils' 2-1 derby victory over Manchester City, coupled with Chelsea's goalless draw at neighbours Fulham.

With Carlo Ancelotti's men looking to make up ground on the current league leaders as they seek to defend their Premier League crown after a disappointing domestic campaign, Lampard also claims the advantage sits squarely with the team sat the top of the pile - rather than the challengers chasing - as the season drawers to a climax.

“Leading [is better], without doubt. There’s nothing worse than being below a team and watching them win and win and win, and you know that if you slip up, that could be it,” he says.

“First, you’ll look at your games, which you can win, and then you’ll kind of relate it to Manchester United having a couple of tough games, basically looking at which point in the season you can close the gap.”

The full in-depth interview with Frank Lampard can be found in the March issue of FourFourTwo - out now – in which the England midfielder talks about the keys to winning the league title, assesses his rivals’ strengths and reveals his preference between winning the Premier League or Champions League. The issue also features exclusive one-on-ones with Dimitar Berbatov, David Silva, Samir Nasri and Johnny Giles.Subscribe now!

By Paul Wentworth

Gregg Davies

Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.