Spartak Moscow v Chelsea (CL) 19/10/2010 KO 17:30 BST

[loz]

NOTE THE EARLY KICK OFF TIME

Assuming Carlo isn't bluffing and Drogba is going to miss the game I think we may well see the same starting eleven as we did against Villa with the exception of Zhirkov starting ahead of Kakuta.

Bosingwa will probably be given another half an hour and McEachran will fancy his chances of getting more playing time off the bench.

[Bobbywoodhogan]

Yeah I'm gonna miss most of the first half because I'm finishing work at 5 and it takes me about half hour to get home.

Good thing about the early kick off is I can watch Real Madrid vs Milan.

[amART]

it will be hard match

0:0 i think

[FCSM1922]

This is the one ive been waiting for ^_^

Well obviously u guys want some spartak team news:

Our playmaker and free kick taker Alex is unlikely, everyone else is fit.

Dikan

Sheshukov -- Parshivlyuk -- Suchy -- Pareja

Kombarov -- ????? -- Ibson -- Makeev

Ari

Welliton

Instead of alex we might put in Ananidze in a similar role or McGeady with Kombarov on the flanks.

Spartak conceded 3 goals in the last seven matches in all competitions since Dikan joined the team, winning six and drawing one.

Obvly the weather will be cold, the pitch is artificial and the home support will be immense, all tickets were sold out within a week. Chelsea is still missing a lot of key players.

Chelsea are still the favourites, but imo all these factors will make it hard for them to dominate and the match can go either way in the end.

Btw on betbrain the odds are 28-24-48

[loz]

I forgot you had bought McGeady. Is he the same for you as he was for Celtic (i.e. plenty of promise when he is on the ball 35 yards form goal but final ball is generally very poor and his decision making is very iffy)

[dkw]

I will be Russian home from work to catch this match, I will just tell my boss I Moscow.....

sorry.

[FCSM1922]

I forgot you had bought McGeady. Is he the same for you as he was for Celtic (i.e. plenty of promise when he is on the ball 35 yards form goal but final ball is generally very poor and his decision making is very iffy)

Well he hasnt been playing a lot so far, the last match he wasnt even on the bench. He scored one goal, with his torso lol, to me hes been average

[loz]

That doesn't surprise me in the slightest. He was hugely over rated in Scotland and I was gobsmacked when you paid as much as you did for him.

[Mikstaw]

I reckon there isn't much love between Spartak's and CSKA's fans. ;) I don't know anything about Zhirkov's preferences, but he won't be welcome at Spartak's stadium IMO... ;)

Edited October 17, 2010 by Mikstaw

[The Moos]

This is going to be a tough one. We've seen great teams face opponents like this before and have alot of problems beating them.

And the artificial pitch can cause some problem for teams that aren't used to it.

I hope Chelsea goes there early and try to practise a bit on the pitch so they get the feel of it and how the ball might move there.

[Blue Steel]

I'd happily take a 0-0 with no further injuries. Will be a very tough place to go with the amount of players we currently have out.

Very good chance for Bosingwa to get some game time under his belt and to field some of the youngers players like Josh and Kakuta.

[Bobbywoodhogan]

If Alex is back I'd give JT a rest cause he didnt look very mobile against Villa you could see he was in pain.

[Mikstaw]

What's the weather like is in Moscow right now? Is it cold?? You know, if it will be cold on Tuesday, it could be a hard game for Chelsea...

[FCSM1922]

What's the weather like is in Moscow right now? Is it cold?? You know, if it will be cold on Tuesday, it could be a hard game for Chelsea...

The forecast for Tue is high of 7 low of -3... So i rate it will be about 0 -1 at 8:30 moscow time.... Teams in moscow always suffer because of low temperatures - liverpool, ajax, real madrid, bayern, arsenal.... Even man united got knocked out by rotor volgograd (lol) because of low temperatures

[Mikstaw]

What about the relations between Spartak's and CSKA fans?

[FCSM1922]

What about the relations between Spartak's and CSKA fans?

Lets just say half of chelseas sector will be cska fans ;)

But yeah pretty much all moscow teams / big clubs hate spartak.... Aside from rubin perhaps

Edited October 17, 2010 by FCSM1922

[Mikstaw]

Your message is empty. :(

[FCSM1922]

Fixed :)

[Mikstaw]

CSKA fans?? Why?? Do they have tickets for Chelsea's sector??

[FCSM1922]

CSKA fans?? Why?? Do they have tickets for Chelsea's sector??

Well yeah first pick on both sectors went to the russian ticketing services.... And if u wanna go see chelsea and youre not spartak, then its the much safer option....

I didnt mean cska as in only cska but i suspect it will be full of other moscow teams' fans - cska, dynamo, lokomotiv

[Mikstaw]

I reckon they won't have tickets for Chelsea's sector... Because the sector of away supporters is usually separate and only supporters of an away team can get there...

Edited October 17, 2010 by Mikstaw

[FCSM1922]

I reckon they won't have tickets for Chelsea's sector... Because the sector of away supporters is usually separate and only supporters of an away team can get there...

What im saying is that some of the away sector tickets were sold in moscow as well... Its just not an option for them to go to the home one - you dont do that in russia unless youre willing to spend some time in the hospital

[Mikstaw]

What a bloody system!!!

[Guest Sindre]

Essien will be rested according to Ancelotti. Does this mean that McEachran is starting?

[Spiller86]

Rested? Wow without Drogs, Lampard and Essien this is gonna be tough.

Will be interested to see if it's a straight swap Zhirkov for Essien or whether McEachran comes in and Zhirkov replaces Kakuta. I'd probably expect the former.