KO 17:00 GMT 

Hmmmm, no reply yet? 

So how do we split the squad for this one? Surely we do not send Morata, Hazard, Courtois, etc for this. Need Batshuayi healthy for the trip I suppose.

Ideas?

Come on you Chelsea!!

So whats the ETA on Batshuayi?

If Batshuayi is not fit, I would start with

Musonda Pedro willian

Kenedy Kante Drinkwater Moses

Rudi DL Azpi

Tibo

 

5pm?! What is this, the Europa League? Looks like I won’t be able to watch it live then. Hoping we can get a result and also rest key players like Hazard, Morata, Kante etc. but also don’t want to see us get it wrong and end up having to get a result against Atletico. Hopefully Conte can find the right solution to have us be as strong as possible in both upcoming games. 

30 minutes ago, Remy10 said:

5pm?! What is this, the Europa League? Looks like I won’t be able to watch it live then. Hoping we can get a result and also rest key players like Hazard, Morata, Kante etc. but also don’t want to see us get it wrong and end up having to get a result against Atletico. Hopefully Conte can find the right solution to have us be as strong as possible in both upcoming games. 

It kicks off at 9pm in Azerbaijan

If we cannot beat a team we already beat 6-0 while rotating then what chance do we have against psg or the like?

11 hours ago, Chelsea Buzz said:

Hmmmm, no reply yet? 

So how do we split the squad for this one? Surely we do not send Morata, Hazard, Courtois, etc for this. Need Batshuayi healthy for the trip I suppose.

Ideas?

Come on you Chelsea!!

 

10 hours ago, didierforever said:

So whats the ETA on Batshuayi?

If Batshuayi is not fit, I would start with

Musonda Pedro willian

Kenedy Kante Drinkwater Moses

Rudi DL Azpi

Tibo

 

If we win, we qualify. Qarabag have shown in recent matches they are no pushovers, If we leave our star players out and end up dropping points in this game, it will be suicide. Not ideal with Liverpool on Saturday, but Conte will want to get qualification assured. Bats being injured is a blow right now. However we cannot afford to drop points and possibly drop out to the Europa League in the final game.

People are treating this game as a Europa League or Carabao Cup fixture. We can't afford to make wholesale chances after dropping points in those 2 games against Roma.

After that Roma cock-up we have no choice but to play our best team, play the same squad we played with on Saturday, just maybe this time with Drinkwater & Moses playing instead. 

think this is a good chance to use willian and Pedro a bit more. Athletico could only manage a draw here, and it will definitely be a lot thougher than at the Bridge not just because we are away but also because now they have played a few games at this level they won't be as nervous.

all that said we should be able to get a result.

Once we get through the Liverpool game the fixture list is relatively kind for a while and I am hopeful we can be at least in second by New year's day

 

13 hours ago, STATS said:

 

If we win, we qualify. Qarabag have shown in recent matches they are no pushovers, If we leave our star players out and end up dropping points in this game, it will be suicide. Not ideal with Liverpool on Saturday, but Conte will want to get qualification assured. Bats being injured is a blow right now. However we cannot afford to drop points and possibly drop out to the Europa League in the final game.

People are treating this game as a Europa League or Carabao Cup fixture. We can't afford to make wholesale chances after dropping points in those 2 games against Roma.

It IS a risk. No doubt about it. But one that we should be willing to take. Even a draw against Liverpool will leave us way behind city (more than 10 points). Positions like wingbacks need rotation. 

Alonso will have his hands full dealing with salah' space, the least we can do is make sure he is not tired. I think the trio of musonda-Willian-Pedro should be good enough for qarabag (with all due respect). A midfield of kante-drinkwater as good as it gets. 

 

Can't see us getting anything but a win here, good form and a team we hammered last time out, can't see the cold breeze of Baku and a home crowd changing that, will be closely watching Atleti/Roma, surely Atleti can do us a favour here at home against Roma, they have been in poor form but they are still a top team.

We play at 5:00 so we will know our result before their match, mind you finishing top can still produce you a hard fixture like Bayern or Real, as it stands so first is no guarantee of an easy game, problem is if we win Atleti will know they are out before kick off so their heads may drop. 

9 minutes ago, Donny Blue said:

Can't see us getting anything but a win here, good form and a team we hammered last time out, can't see the cold breeze of Baku and a home crowd changing that, will be closely watching Atleti/Roma, surely Atleti can do us a favour here at home against Roma, they have been in poor form but they are still a top team.

We play at 5:00 so we will know our result before their match, mind you finishing top can still produce you a hard fixture like Bayern or Real, as it stands so first is no guarantee of an easy game, problem is if we win Atleti will know they are out before kick off so their heads may drop. 

Atletico can go through even if we win, they anyway need qarabag to take points from us or Roma.

Not sure on resting shed loads of players for this one. Qarabag were clearly shell shocked with their first group game in the CL and have acquitted themselves reasonably well since. We should take each match as they come and not take for granted wins against lesser teams. Win this match and we are through to the knockout matches and we can go into the last match with no pressure and can then give players a rest ready for the busy Christmas period. Yes we have a key game against Liverpool on Saturday,sh*t happens...we'll be up for that game. We unfortunately have in all probability left ourselves with too much to do to win the league now, the last team to win the league having lost three of the opening ten was United in 1967,top four is now in reality our target with a hope that history can repeat itself 50 years on.  

Looking at some of the pictures of the team on the plane looks like conte has included hazard Pedro, drinkwater, rudiger, morata, Ethan, Cahill so it does look like his going with a strong team to get the job done, I reckon a 3-0 win 

49 minutes ago, charierre said:

Not sure on resting shed loads of players for this one. Qarabag were clearly shell shocked with their first group game in the CL and have acquitted themselves reasonably well since. We should take each match as they come and not take for granted wins against lesser teams. Win this match and we are through to the knockout matches and we can go into the last match with no pressure and can then give players a rest ready for the busy Christmas period. Yes we have a key game against Liverpool on Saturday,sh*t happens...we'll be up for that game. We unfortunately have in all probability left ourselves with too much to do to win the league now, the last team to win the league having lost three of the opening ten was United in 1967,top four is now in reality our target with a hope that history can repeat itself 50 years on.  

I see it differently, Stones is injured and every team goes through a jittery period. I think City can be caught.

I also think if we are really worried about not beating Atletico at home then surely we should prioritise Liverpool, in most quarters a detested rival.

Of course this is academic if Tom CFC is correct.

I say start the strongest 11 and batter them so the second half is just a practice match like west brom. The reason we lost to city was that we played 90 mins of intense football against Athletico and scored late. I say lets rip this lot and end the contest early

16 hours ago, didierforever said:

It IS a risk. No doubt about it. But one that we should be willing to take. Even a draw against Liverpool will leave us way behind city (more than 10 points). Positions like wingbacks need rotation. 

Alonso will have his hands full dealing with salah' space, the least we can do is make sure he is not tired. I think the trio of musonda-Willian-Pedro should be good enough for qarabag (with all due respect). A midfield of kante-drinkwater as good as it gets. 

Alonso I would not mind rotating and same as the RWB. However rotating Hazard, Morata as well is a huge risk. Yes, it should be good enough but there is no guarantees going away to this team. Look how Roma struggled there with their best team and just about sneaked victory. Atletico could not get a win in 2 appearances against them. I am sure Conte will put a very strong team to get the job done then start resting players hopefully.

Judging by Conte's comments regarding that he sees this game as the biggest so far this season as well, highly doubt he will rest too many players. Likes of Luiz to come in I would say, possibly Moses if fit and think we will go 3-4-3. However still think Morata and Hazard will start with one of Willian or Pedro on the other flank.

The important thing here is not about battering them first half and rest players in the 2nd half. They will all be jet lagged from two long flights to and from qarabag. Rest kante/alonso/hazard/morata/azpi as they need to be fresh for saturday. Alonso's legs need to be saved for Salah vs Liverpool. 

There is a reason why Conte pulled Hazard and Fabregas off early against West Brom, i expect both of them to start against Qarabag.

They shouldn't be taken lightly, even though we hammered them in the first game. They have pulled off a few shocks in the last year.

Edited November 21, 20178 yr by Scott Harris

8 hours ago, STATS said:

Alonso I would not mind rotating and same as the RWB. However rotating Hazard, Morata as well is a huge risk. Yes, it should be good enough but there is no guarantees going away to this team. Look how Roma struggled there with their best team and just about sneaked victory. Atletico could not get a win in 2 appearances against them. I am sure Conte will put a very strong team to get the job done then start resting players hopefully.

Judging by Conte's comments regarding that he sees this game as the biggest so far this season as well, highly doubt he will rest too many players. Likes of Luiz to come in I would say, possibly Moses if fit and think we will go 3-4-3. However still think Morata and Hazard will start with one of Willian or Pedro on the other flank.

Fair enough. 

I would definitely rotate the wing backs. Kante is a machine so does not matter, but cesc and baka should be rested. Plus kante and drinkwater might as well be our best 2 man midfield pairing for the time being (till baka finds his feet).

I have to disagree about hazard and morata though. Just like the FBs, we need them to be firing on all cylinders against Pool. I "wish" they would be rotated too.

willy

Rudiger  Luiz  Cahill

Zappa  Drinkwater  Kante  Kennedy

Willian  Pedro  Musonda

Obviously, never underestimate any team, but there is no room for failure here. Definitely a game to let Willian, Drinkwater and Pedro get more playing time.

48 minutes ago, Leo Atrox said:

Obviously, never underestimate any team, but there is no room for failure here. Definitely a game to let Willian, Drinkwater and Pedro get more playing time.

My thoughts exactly.

We don't need to go starting Hudson Odoi but certainly a game for a few players that have lost their spot in the team of late.

9 minutes ago, Van Butsen said:

My thoughts exactly.

We don't need to go starting Hudson Odoi but certainly a game for a few players that have lost their spot in the team of late.

Yup, would especially love to see Willian and Drinkwater out there, perfect game for them.