Frank Lampard's future at Chelsea is hanging in the balance.

Tension is gathering after the Blues came up short against Leicester City with talkSPORT having reported that Lampard could lose his job were that very scenario to play out.

First-half goals from Wilfred Ndidi and James Maddison at the King Power Stadium ensured that Chelsea's woeful Premier League form over the winter period plunged to a new nadir.

Lampard under pressure

Lampard looked visibly stressed after the loss having seen his Blues side comfortably outworked by Brendan Rodgers' men - and win just twice in England's top-flight since November.

According to Goal, Lampard reflected in his post-match interview: "They were sharper than us, ran more than us and they looked in form - we looked out of form.

"Disappointing goal from a set piece and the second goal is just not good enough. There were quite a lot of moments where our sharpness wasn't there, those are moments you have to dig in and the basics are important like running and sprinting and we didn't do that."

Possible replacements

And whether or not Chelsea want to bring down the axe on Lampard now or in three games' time, Roman Abramovich and co will need to have a replacement lined up if they do take the plunge.

Besides, unless the club's hierarchy are going to parachute Guus Hiddink in for the umpteenth time, they'll want a truly world-class successor to justify the inevitable fallout of sacking a club legend.

And one of the names being touted most frequently in the aftermath of Chelsea's latest defeat has seen Thomas Tuchel, who was dismissed as Paris Saint-Germain boss around Christmas time.

Update on Thomas Tuchel

Tuchel carries with him great experience from his time at the Parc des Princes and Borussia Dortmund as well as a shared nationality with some of Chelsea's biggest strugglers.

And it seems as though the wheels are already in motion for Tuchel to wait in the wings as Lampard's potential replacement, according to an update from Jan Aage Fjortoft.

The Norwegian tweeted on Wednesday afternoon: "Re: Tuchel. Agents and Chelsea - representatives have been talking about bringing Tuchel in.

"I understand no decision has been made in terms of Lampard yet, but if he goes Tuchel is seen as the best replacement in the middle of the season."

Chelsea poised to make big decision

The key detail here is that Chelsea are still undecided on whether to give Lampard the boot.

It's clear that they're considering it as an option, otherwise Tuchel wouldn't have entered talks, but such an undertone of doubt at the Chelsea end suggests Lampard might have one more chance.

However, whether that's true or not, time is fast running out for Chelsea's all-time record goalscorer and each game that goes by without a victory, the closer Tuchel might come to snatching his job.