Chippy

http://bvls2013.com/bvls2013/ not english but looks ok

I'll stick with what I predicted in my BPL but not so confident after seeing the line up, half any winnings to the site. 03 Feb 2014 - Man City v Chelsea - Correct Score Chelsea 2-1 @ 11/1 Stake : £5.00 Estimated Returns : £60.00 and Samuel Eto'o / Chelsea 2-1 @ 105/1 Stake : £3.00 Estimated Returns : £318.00 Come on boys.

I'm amazed Oscar isn't in the starting line up, I don't like it and now the nerves are starting to set in. I expected Ramires on the right though.

We lose something from his game there no doubt about it but in a defensive aspect he does a good job, I mentioned earlier that its what none of us want to see but if it means cutting out some of Citys attacking threat and Jose feels (as he has done before) that playing him there allows us to get a foothold in the game before attacking more as they hopefully tire then who am I to argue. I'd play Willian out there and Oscar and Hazard behind Eto'o but I don't watch the training sessions and only Jose can judge if Matic is ready to be in a defensive two against them or if three across the middle will be the way to go. On what I've seen I'd likely start with Mikel and Ramires, hopefully Matic has sharpened up in training and can give us the extra that Mikel doesn't offer going forward.

Somehow I managed to leave Wilian out of that so if Jose does play Ramires on the right he would be on the bench. time seems to be dragging waiting for this.

To be fair in our last game with them Mikel came on around the hour mark and done a good Job, not that we were over run before that.

Ex-England striker Michael Owen on Twitter: I'm going to be brave and go against popular opinion tonight people. As much as I admire City and think they're the best team in the league, Jose Mourinho lives for games like this. They are best when sitting deep and Aguero could be a huge loss for City.

I'd imagine Jose start with something like Cech Ivan Cahill Terry Azpilicueta Matic Ramires Lampard Oscar Eto'o Hazard Subs Shwarzer Luiz Cole Mikel Shurrle Ba No place for Salah for me yet but as I haven't seen him train it could be that one of Mikel or Shurrle make way for him on the bench, unless Jose opts for no out and out striker on the bench and Ba makes way. No idea of the line-up really or the tactics for today which makes this game even more interesting, can't wait for it.

Looking through the thread at the line-ups I can't believe anyone (and I hope Jose doesn't) would leave Oscar out, this boy has been superb all season and when he's been picked out for having a bad game, he still usually has done his job well, Oscar is a big part of the reason we didn't keep Mata...he's that good and he is one of the most important players in the team for me. I'd expect the thing we never like to see (Ramires on the right) and that would be at the expense of Wilian who would come on later if by any strange turn of events we went behind. A big game in the context of this season but whatever the result, we will be improving and I think City have reached a level that if they can stay at it will mean again next season they will be our main rival.

I'd look a bit stupid if I said it if you won the league and that's why I'm not saying it about City...City for me have a great chance, position wise obviously says Arsenal have a great chance but that's what forums are for...to express your opinions and mine is that the only team that have a chance of pipping City this season are ourselves. In my opinion your battle is with Liverpool.

It's like you were in the room Moi, that's exactly what she does .

Much more worried about the scouse threat than any from the pretenders at the top, it's true they've taken a decent points haul from the teams they are expected to beat but they haven't looked impressive of late and I doubt they'll get many points from the games against the teams competing for the top four places. another false dawn for mr Wenger I think.

Watched Prisoners tonight, the Wolverine in his normal clothes...about some kids that get kidnapped. Quite entertaining although I kept guessing what was going to happen, much the the missus annoyance .

I really wish Matic had have had time to get adjusted to our style and the pace of the Premiership, feel he could be the right player for this game but think it could be just too early to have the desired impact. Jose will have thought about it and it will be interesting to see if he gets the nod.

Right to the end of February if you're lucky.

Arsenals competition for third spot dropped a couple of points today so there must be some relief amongst their fans, wouldn't be surprised if they cock it up and pool catch them though.

It's deal or no deal now...Noel Edmunds, you've gotta really hate Arsenal to be prefer to watch Noel f**king Edmunds.

My missus knew exactly what had happened from the kitchen when she heard songs of praise come on, couldn't watch another minute of that.

Lucky Rocky never had your never say die attitude...we'd have missed out on five fine sequels.

There used to be a WUM on here that came out with stuff like that...wasn't he banned?

I find it strange that people think West Ham shut us out "easily" 43% of the game was played in the final third, in and around their area and they we're living on last ditch defending for about 95 minutes of the 97 played. I know we have seen us frustrated before but never to the extent that we had so many attempts and so much control of the game, their plan was so obvious they might as well have all stood on each others shoulders on the goal line in a bank of five with the keeper in front of them and let us take shots. We have our problems, we play narrow and we need a top quality striker at the peak of his ability but what Jose has he has a knack of getting the best from and the lack of any width from the fullbacks while playing with attacking Mids who drift inside is likely Joses way of using the lesser of two evils approach, tightening up the defense at the cost of a bit of width but with players usually able to open teams up with quick feat and intricate passing. Maybe when Matic settles in we might see the wing backs given more licence to get forward but for now and being in the mix without ever hitting top form, I think we should be quite pleased with the progress we're making.

They certainly have stepped it up and that's something confidence can do and having three top drawer strikers is doing that confidence a power of good. That said we have been quietly going about our business and doing pretty well, as you say the wing backs are really not adding much to the attack like they did in Carlos time but this has a lot to do with the easy goals we were shipping and Jose tightening the defensive side up, as has been discussed earlier we really don't have much in the box to aim at so crossing isn't a major miss with the players available, I still feel Ash is a better bet going forward as his link up play further forward seems to be a good fit with Hazard. I think Jose has to get the team right from the back to breed the confidence that clean sheets bring as the strikers here are not prolific enough to instill confidence through goals. I agree City look the more finished article but to rule us out with a good squad and Jose in charge is just not in my nature. I have plenty of respect for City but I'd be worried if I was a City fan, it will be their hardest home game of the season, they've already lost their hardest away game.

Unusual for me to disagree with you General but they've had all those things since day one this season and last time I looked we'd both played twenty three games, City had lost four and we had lost three. Can't understand anyone thinking we don't have a chance, we've got the best chance out of the other nineteen teams in the division.

You saw all that from a five minute clip Phillip? I'd advise you watch the ninety seven minutes before getting too distressed about what we lack, its always the players we've sold that could have made the difference and if we want to look at those I'd say the one that would have made the biggest difference this season (not particularly last night) would have been Sturridge. That though shouldn't matter as when Jose gets twenty odd players here that he feels happy with, I'm sure the majority on here will have a tougher time being critical.

When you look at City at home in any game obviously hoping for a slip up there isn't many teams you actually believe can go there and cause any surprise, include the so called challengers and the feeling is just the same (how many will they score?). Looking at it without any tinted specs and without tempting fate, purely on a basis of beating the bookmaker the team looking most likely to keep the best strike force in the league (maybe europe) down to either none or one goal is Chelsea, the team with the manager able to employ good enough tactics to come away with something at the home of a team scoring for fun and with confidence to burn again is Chelsea. The team that can play very good defensive football (like West Ham ) and be lethal on the counter attack (unlike West Ham) again looks to me like Chelsea. Its odd how the mood can change on here, imagine the posts today if we'd put three past the spammers last night (as we would if they had tried to win the game) people would be over confident, now its like we are clinging above relegation and facing the leaders. I'll be looking at the team as usual before I bet and though I'd never bet against us anyway, it will be the first bet I've done on a City game that doesn't involve them winning that I've done with any confidence