Posted March 13, 200718 yr Chelsea skipper John Terry should return after recovering from his Carling Cup final head injury. But striker Andriy Shevchenko could miss out after limping off in training with what seemed to be an ankle injury. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/footbal ... 437219.stm It seems Sheva is out... so I think it will be 4-4-2 diamond and Robben will make pair with Drogba. Interesting to watch Barton vs Lampard, but I`ve heard Barton was arrested, so would he plays?
March 13, 200718 yr Unless the club make an internal club decision not to play him then there is no reason why Barton wouldn't be playing.
March 13, 200718 yr anyone else think that if we dont win this its all over ? i do im afraid. also have to say (sadly) that if shev doesnt make it to play it could be a total blessing in disguise. i would hope jose would play drog up front with diver boy and kalouuuuu just behind. we shall see...
March 13, 200718 yr Every game is must win game, so a draw, let alone a defeat could see the title slip out of reach. As for the team, if Sheva is unfit will Kalou get a start? I'm sure he played a full 90 minutes.
March 13, 200718 yr All the talk before the first game of the season against Man City at the Bridge on SS1 was about how Barton would cause us trouble. He had absolutley no influence on the game whatsoever - Lamps and Essien showed why Barton isn't International standard and is an average player in an average team. Infact... I don't think Essien remembered to take him our his pocket. Com'n the Chels!
March 13, 200718 yr Kalou SHOULD be getting a start, the boy has earned it...hopefully he and Drogba being countrymen have formed a good understanding of eachother in training.
March 13, 200718 yr Thinking about it this game could be tougher than we think. City were booed off on Sunday, they had the old 'youre not fit to wear the shirt' and there were tears on the terrcaces etc. In situations like this the next home game after something like like that always tends to be a very passionate affair and its amazing how many times Chelsea always seem to be the opponents for teams in matches like this! We need to start quickly (for onces) or get a hold on the game or the Blue Moon mob will start to believe....
March 13, 200718 yr Agree Kalou should at least start . We draw or lose its all over. Indeed, I fully expect every game for teh rest of this season to eb treated like it is our final. One slip up and it is OVER, Man Utd will be hard pressed to drop the 4 points needed for us to have a chance to catch them. Anything more than 4 and it is over. I fully expect this to be a tough, low scoring afair. Hopefully we can take home the 3 points with a 0-1 win
March 14, 200718 yr Taking into account City's poor home form, we really should start with three up top: Maka still got a knock? Mikel suspended, and Bridge out injured?: ...................Big Pete..................... Diarra........Carv's......JT!.....Cashley .........Ballack....Essien....Lamps......... ......Kalouuuuu...Drog's......Robbie...... 1-3 Chelsea!
March 14, 200718 yr Big game tonight. Not only because we need to make up the ground on United but also because Pearce is under pressure. If we can win this one there is every chance he will be out of a job in the next week or 2. That could work in our favour if a new manager comes in just in time to revitalize the team for their game against United. Good money would be on Paul Simpson from Preston if that happens. Here is hoping anyway :)
March 14, 200718 yr Big game...well, to be honest, all our matches from now on are big games. Hopefully we'll get the right result and hopefully we won't get any more injuries.
March 14, 200718 yr Looks like Essien is out. Apparently according to Man City site he and Bridgey didn't travel with the team. Unofficially posted by 1 fan on BBC the team is: cech Geremi - Carvalho - JT - Cole Ballack - Makelele - Lamps Kalou - Drogba - Robben Subs Diarra Sheva Boula SWP Carlo
March 14, 200718 yr From the official site: Chelsea will line-up in a 4-3-3 formation as follows:1Petr Cech 14 G?r?mi 6 Ricardo Carvalho 26 John Terry © 3 Ashley Cole 13 Michael Ballack 4 Claude Makelele 8 Frank Lampard 21 Salomon Kalou 11 Didier Drogba 16 Arjen Robben Subs: 23 Carlo Cudicini, 22 Lassana Diarra, 9 Khalid Boulahrouz, 24 Shaun Wright-Phillips, 7 Andriy Shevchenko.
March 14, 200718 yr Geremi? Diarra rested I guess then. Essien took quite a bad knock against Spuds so its no real surprise not see him there. 2 flying wingers and the inform man upfront - I like!
March 14, 200718 yr Sheva was supposed to be injured, but it can't be too bad as he's on the bench. Hopefully Essien's injury won't keep him out for long. And Ashley better not pick up an injury...
March 14, 200718 yr I will be interested to see how our front 3 does as all of them have played well recently. Losing Essien is a bit of a blow but I'd rather he is given some time to recover for the big cup matches ahead in the next few weeks. The return of JT makes up for it :) We can ill afford any more injuries in defense though.
March 14, 200718 yr Oh flippin' eck! 'the points are Chelsea's in reality aren't they?' 'yes they are' Trying to jinx us!
March 14, 200718 yr 1-0 Lampard penalty :) According to the BBC is the clearest penalty you will see this season.
March 14, 200718 yr Glad we never signed that Richards!!! That was a pretty dull and uninspiring 45 minutes. Thank God City are as bad as they are.
March 14, 200718 yr Apparently the penalty was not so clear. From a reverse angle, it appears that Micah Richards barely touched Kalou. Anyway, what a boring first half. It was played in first gear, and just horrible football to watch. We are up, though, but we have been put under pressure a lot during the first half. I worry about JT, since he seemed to wrench his back very late in the half. I hope that it is nothing.
