We continue our quest for the league at Wigan. This in theory should be a successful afternoon.

Wigan have conceded the second most amount of goals at home (15) and have only scored a lowly 8.

I hope we take this and every other game as seriously as we did last night. None of the top teams are playing on saturday so slightly less pressure on us and we must take full advantage.

I would start the same team again, but switch Bosingwa for Ivan and bring Luiz back in.

I reckon we will see Torres upfront with Lamps starting in place of Miereles..

Wouldn't mind Bertrand in place of Ashley for this game as well

Looking forward to this.

Nice cold evening, sat in the warm, glass of bitter and a Chinese to follow!

I too can see things shaken up a bit for this, seems that Torres hasn't played in ages, so expect

him to start.

Kalou anyone?

I reckon we will see Torres upfront with Lamps starting in place of Miereles..

Wouldn't mind Bertrand in place of Ashley for this game as well

That's exactly what I just posted on another board. I'd go with this:

Cech

Ivanovic--Luiz--Terry--Bertrand

Ramires--Romeu--Lampard

Sturridge--Torres--Mata

Give Cole a rest (and honestly, he hasn't been that sharp lately anyway).

This is the perfect game to play Torres. Wigan is the type of defense that's tailor made for Torres to get back into a rhythm. Plus, with 3 games in 10 days, this one makes sense to rest Drogba and get him ready for Spurs next Thursday.

Lampard can get a start; Meireles can rest.

Assuming we can get an early lead, I'd like to see Kalou, Malouda, and Mikel on at some point. Not so much to get them minutes, but just to rest some combination of Ramires, Romeu, Mata, and Sturridge.

Edited December 13, 201114 yr by TrojanMan

Drogba needs a rest surely, Lampard and Torres to come in,

Cant wait for this one.

They talked so much during yesterday's match about next Thursday v. Spurs that I completely forgot we had a game this weekend! Silly me.

That's exactly what I just posted on another board. I'd go with this:

Cech

Ivanovic--Luiz--Terry--Bertrand

Ramires--Romeu--Lampard

Sturridge--Torres--Mata

Give Cole a rest (and honestly, he hasn't been that sharp lately anyway).

This is the perfect game to play Torres. Wigan is the type of defense that's tailor made for Torres to get back into a rhythm. Plus, with 3 games in 10 days, this one makes sense to rest Drogba and get him ready for Spurs next Thursday.

Lampard can get a start; Meireles can rest.

Assuming we can get an early lead, I'd like to see Kalou, Malouda, and Mikel on at some point. Not so much to get them minutes, but just to rest some combination of Ramires, Romeu, Mata, and Sturridge.

Right with you on this one.

However, I have a suspicion that we will see Bosingwa start, and maybe rest one of JT or Ivan. I also think we'll see more of Malouda in this game, maybe even a start ahead of Mata? But I hope we start with mata and sub him out later to rest him.

I expect us to line up as follows:

..................................Cech

Bosingwa............Luiz..........Terry..............Bertrand

................................Romeu (Mikel)

................Ramires....................Lampard

...Sturridge...........................................Mata (Malouda)

...............................Torres (Kalou)

Thanks

I'd be fine with Bossy starting and either Ivan or JT resting. And I'd be okay with Mata getting the whole game off too, though I'd worry about Malouda's ability to feed Torres. And obviously we need Torres clicking again.

Don't get all this resting players, we're now on a run and we should look to capitilise on it.We shouldn't underestimate Wigan as we did with Genk. Only players on 4 bookings should be considered for a break.

I get the thinking there, charierre. But 3 games in 10 days is a quicker pace than usual, especially for our older guys.

Plus, with a run of games that goes Newcastle, Valencia, City, Wigan, Spurs, it's easy to spot the game that could get overlooked. I actually think we'd get a more focused effort if you get guys like Torres, Bertrand, etc. in the game. They've got something to prove.

I don't know why people think we should take our foot off the gas for this one. I'd play the same team as Monday with the only possible changes being Torres for Drogba, Lampard for Meireles and Luiz for Bosingwa. We have no distractions leading up to or after this game, so no need to rest our best players. This will still be a tough fixture and we need to keep our positive momentum

Edited December 13, 201114 yr by gee

We've managed to get some excellent results the last three games against tough opposition, but facing a smaller team we must not get too complacent. We need to go out there and play with urgency and desire from the first whistle.

I agree with those calling for Bertrand to start this one. Cole need some rest and Bertrand has been very solid against tougher opposition than this. He should definitely start these sort of games. Other than that I excpect Luiz come into the side, but for whom I'm not sure. Normally for Bossie, but with the tight programme and more difficult games ahead, AVB might choose to rest Ivanovic or Terry. I also think Lampard and Torres will be back in the side for this, and hope to see McEachran make the bench.

Good ole Wigan

I only have one question: does Frank get the start?

And if he does, why? To reward him for being a good servant of the club? Or to give Meireles a rest? The reason I ask is because it looks like the best midfield is Meireles-Romeu-Ramires.

Other than that, the question is whether Torres get a start. My money says yes. I agree with those who say Luiz rests Iva and Bossy plays again.

I like Wigan and Roberto Martinez. But we need all 3, so sorry mate.

I only have one question: does Frank get the start?

And if he does, why? To reward him for being a good servant of the club? Or to give Meireles a rest? The reason I ask is because it looks like the best midfield is Meireles-Romeu-Ramires.

Both.

Reward him and rest Meireles.

Other than that, the question is whether Torres get a start. My money says yes.

If not now, when? I think he has to play this one. If Torres starts this on the bench, I'll start giving some weight to the "AVB doesn't like Torres" theories.

Both.

Reward him and rest Meireles.

If not now, when? I think he has to play this one. If Torres starts this on the bench, I'll start giving some weight to the "AVB doesn't like Torres" theories.

You've passed the quiz!

And for the grand prize, one last question:

Does AVB try, yet again, to make the high line work? (I say yes, but it is an away match, so maybe not.)

He can't help himself with the high line can he? At least he turned it around before we got hammered yesterday.

He can't help himself with the high line can he? At least he turned it around before we got hammered yesterday.

I'd say just play a bit deeper, there is no need. Try it when he has his players in that he believes are capable. Hit em hard on the break and dominate the game, As long as we are fired up we will win.

Torres MUST start this. Drogba has been tireing quicker and quicker in each match. Time for him to rest up and see if he finds himself back in the team. Mata and Sturridge seem to be at their creative best at the moment, hopefully ferndando can take advantage of this. Lampard should start, Luiz return in the centre and push ivan back to the right. Our defensive line will probably naturally become high due to our obvious superiority over wigan. Dont see any threats from them coming forward so that shouldnt be a problem. So yeah, i would go with;

Cech

Ivan - Luiz - Terry - Ash

Romeu

Rami - Lamps

Studge - Torres - Mata

Easy 5-0 i should hope.

If we absolutely demolish them like we know we can, I think we'll go on a run like early season City/United. The belief will be back.

With the Christmas schedule looming, this is probably a good time to rest players.

Very tough schedule over xmas. Its in games like this where we see whether we have the squad depth sufficient to win every game when we are playing 2X a week.

Ramires, Sturridge Mata will play every game and hopefully get rested for ten minutes every time. The full backs may need a rest but they are not going forward as hard as earlier in the season and that's keeping them fitter for longer.

We have Lampard, Mikel and Malouda to interchange in the midfield but Lampard aside our strengths go down when we play them.

Torres is the enigma. We need him to perform. He will have to get his chance sooner or later. Now might be the time I guess.

Its no good beating Citeh if we don't beat Wigan.

This is the match we are expected to win, after what happened at QPR, I don't think we can take anything for granted. I hope AVB doesn't tinker too much with his team selection and tactics, let's not make this a training run for playing highline. I'm all for Torres get a start, considering the fixtures coming up. If he does, let's give him the maximum amount of support. Even without the ANC, Drogba won't be haning around, and won't be playing at top level for long. We have to find an alternative and get our striker force going.

Kalou anyone?

I agree with this, I've been reading these boards for the past year and have finally registered, i've hated some of the things i've read about Kalou on here, i know, and i'm sure he knows himself he is not good enough for the starting 11 but whether it carling cup, low premierleague sides and even the big teams he has got as some crucial goals and deserves his place in the squad ( i seem to remember an 89th min headed goal from him that saved us a point a year or so ago but can't remember the game!).

While at the moment i think Ramires cannot and should not be dropped, I think Merielles should make way for Lampard even though overall i think he should start ahead, i've seen certain comments such as after yesterdays match that might suggest Lampard is throwing his toys out the pram a bit after being sub for two games and i really hate disharmony in the changing room and Frank can clearly do the job needed whether Raul has played better or not.. I think Torres should start aswell with Mata on the left so we have a bit of creativity to help him and Kalou.. This is just my opinion though of course and while i wouldn't be surprised if AVB stuck with the same front line as monday i have confidence he will get us the right result which is all that matters in the end..