Frank Lampard points to Newcastle United when asked about Chelsea and Liverpool

Frank Lampard has pointed to Newcastle United's re-emergence as a Premier League force after being asked Chelsea's prospects next season.

Eddie Howe's third-placed side end their campaign with a game against Lampard's 12th-placed Chelsea team at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Chelsea, bought by Todd Boehly last year, never recovered from the early-season sacking of Thomas Tuchel, and Lampard was placed in temporary charge after the dismissal of Graham Potter.

Fifth-placed Liverpool have also under-achieved in the Premier League, while Newcastle, relegation contenders last season, have capitalised by over-achieving and making quicker-than-expected progress under Howe.

Asked whether Chelsea and Liverpool, previously fixtures in the top four, will improve next season, Lampard said: “I don’t know that, because the Premier League moves on very fast.

"You see the emergence of Newcastle, Brighton, Aston Villa. If you switch it off, it’s not easy to switch it back on. I think that'll be the test.”

Lampard also spoke about the "alignment of thinking" at Newcastle and other successful clubs when asked about the importance of a structure above the head coach.

United's new owners appointed Dan Ashworth as sporting director last year, and he has put a new structure in place at the club.

Howe, meanwhile, admitted that his United team was "ahead of schedule" after the club secured a top-four finish with a goalless draw against Leicester City on Monday night.

Asked about Champions League qualification, Newcastle's head coach said: “This wasn’t in our sights at that moment.

"We had escaped relegation impressively, from the position we were in, and we were hopeful of improving and staying away from danger, and growing the team to a position where maybe we could compete for Europe in a couple of seasons.

"So, we’ve shot ahead of schedule. With that comes big challenges for the future, but when you’re in these moments, and there’s an opportunity of something like this, you have to take it.

"That’s where I can’t compliment the players enough. It would have been very easy for us to have faded away at some stage during a difficult run, or a difficult moment, but we haven’t, and that’s credit to the mentality of the group."

Howe added: "It’s an amazing achievement, an amazing thing in terms of where we’ve come from in such a short space of time. But it feels difficult to celebrate it like you’ve won a league or something like that."