Chelsea vs Eintracht Frankfurt (EL) Thur 9th May 20:00 GMT

[coco]

[dynamite]

They got walloped 6-1 by leverkusen so hopefully their confidence is shot to pieces, plus we should be on a high after qualifying for next seasons champions league, we really should win this pretty comfortably if we're on this from the start. 

[Jezq8]

Granted we have made the top4 in the league. I think we should still go out to win this and reach the final it’s a trophy after all.

Kepa

azbi luiz christensen Emerson 

kova jorginho loftus 

willian giroud hazard

[robdog]

36 minutes ago, dynamite said:

They got walloped 6-1 by leverkusen on Sunday

IMHO Chelsea wore that ass out at Waldstadion on Thursday night - hopefully Eintracht will be there for the taking but I am believing they will discover the intestinal fortitude to fight at Stamford Bridge

[VG]

52 minutes ago, dynamite said:

They got walloped 6-1 by leverkusen so hopefully their confidence is shot to pieces, plus we should be on a high after qualifying for next seasons champions league, we really should win this pretty comfortably if we're on this from the start. 

Quite a rotated team though. Jovic and Rode in particular.  They’ve revealed their priority. 

[axman2526]

Assuming no Kante

 

Kepa

 

Azpi 

christensen 

Luiz

emerson 

 

Jorginho 

Kovacic 

RLC

 

Pedro 

Higuain 

Hazard 

[rtwelch]

4 hours ago, VG said:

Quite a rotated team though. Jovic and Rode in particular.  They’ve revealed their priority. 

I find it odd they did that as Leverkusen were 3 points behind them and are now level. If they'd actually gone for it and won they would have practically qualified now.

[dansubrosa]

Hopefully they are knackered.

Kepa

Azpi Christensen Luiz Emerson

RLC Jorginho Kovacic

Willian Giroud Hazard

[axman2526]

14 hours ago, rtwelch said:

I find it odd they did that as Leverkusen were 3 points behind them and are now level. If they'd actually gone for it and won they would have practically qualified now.

Cause the top 4 trophy only exists in England because of Arsenal and Wenger. Seems Frankfurt would much rather win a real trophy.

[Michael]

20 hours ago, Jezq8 said:

Granted we have made the top4 in the league. I think we should still go out to win this and reach the final it’s a trophy after all.

We should go for it even more now we have top 4 wrapped up.  We can field a full strength side without the worry of needing a result against Leicester.  It's no Champions League but having another Europa League trophy in the cabinet is a nice thing to have.

[Zeta]

Kepa

Emerson
Christensen
Luiz
Azpilicueta

Jorginho
Kovacic
Loftus-Cheek

Hazard
Giroud
Willian

[chiefBlueCFC]

So did Frankfurt sit everyone for this match? I saw they got absolutely smacked around 6-1 yesterday

[dynamite]

22 hours ago, VG said:

Quite a rotated team though. Jovic and Rode in particular.  They’ve revealed their priority. 

I just don't understand why they would do that though, as had already been mentioned they needed to win that game to cement top 4, now there's only a few points between a few teams with 2 games left, with them still needing to go to bayern, top 4 looks unlikely for them now, they probably should've prioritised the league because let's face it that would've been their best chance, they're the weakest team left of the 4 imo. 

Anyway I don't care whether they make top 4 or not as long as they're not winning Thursday. As long as we take our chances we should be fine, but that cost us in tge last game, had we been more clinical in Germany this tie would be over, we're the better team, but we need to show up on the night, and hopefully the 6-1 thrashing they got has knocked their confidence. 

[ForeverCarefree]

I want RLC to play, we currently look a much better side with him than without. 

But is he psyically capable of playing 3 games in a week?

I assume Kante will be injured for this one so a midfield 3 of Jorginho, Kovacic and RLC/Barkley. Won’t be much on the bench as I’m not sure Drinkwater is even registered for this stage of the cup?

Emerson presumably comes back in at left back, although I think Alonso has looked better than him in than him in the last month. 

Surely Hazard starts this one? Be crazy to leave him out the starting line up again. 

Giroud to continue as the Europa League striker (wonder if he’d get the nod for a potential final against his former team?)

[ozboy]

Barkley might get a run. 

[icecoolguy22]

I'm sure we will go all out for this game, so will they. This could be the last game of Hazard at the Bridge ( like it or not), of course hw will start. We should get through, but with the striker they got and the fragile defence we have, wouldn't be out of the question if they snatch a 2:2.

[Michael]

36 minutes ago, icecoolguy22 said:

I'm sure we will go all out for this game, so will they. This could be the last game of Hazard at the Bridge ( like it or not), of course hw will start. 

I kinda hope he doesn't start, it might mean he's staying.

[Bobbywoodhogan]

Has anyone else noticed how the media are talking up the EL for Arsenal but not really us? Even prior to the CL qualification I noticed this was happening. Sort of like they don’t expect us to win it.

[Ukraine Bolt]

Kepa

Azpi  Christensen  Luiz  Emerson

Jorginho

Kovacic     Barkley

Willian     Giroud     Hazard

Two more important games to go this season, so little rotation needed. Save RLC for the final imo. Kante rested to recover from whatever injury he has. 

[coco]

They will be pumped up, its a huge game for them, not so much for us. They were pumped up for the first game and i think it showed as the game went on they left lots of space as they went looking for goals. So i expect the same thing more or less, both teams starting with a view to score at least a couple of goals, so it could be end to end stuff, depending on how well we can keep possession in their half, we have been pretty good at winning back possession quickly when were still high up the pitch just lately, a lot of that down to Kante, it's important for his replacement to do a similar job.#

Prediction 4-2 (agg;5-3)

[Michael]

39 minutes ago, coco said:

Prediction 4-2 (agg;5-3)

Would take that scoreline for sure, but I think Hazzy is going to need to do the bulk of the work if we're to get four.  I know we put three past Watford but I'm still worried about where our goals are going to come from if Hazard doesn't fire.

[coco]

1 hour ago, Michael said:

Would take that scoreline for sure, but I think Hazzy is going to need to do the bulk of the work if we're to get four.  I know we put three past Watford but I'm still worried about where our goals are going to come from if Hazard doesn't fire.

You do realise he has yet to score in the tournament this season ? But don't worry, we have the tournaments top scorer, two for him, one for Pedro, and a penalty for Hazard.

[Michael]

41 minutes ago, coco said:

You do realise he has yet to score in the tournament this season ? But don't worry, we have the tournaments top scorer, two for him, one for Pedro, and a penalty for Hazard.

Of course, but he hasn't played all that much either.  As I said, I'd take a 4-2 any day of the week so I hope you're right!

[axman2526]

Got a bad feeling today's result will inspire Spurs, Arsenal and Frankfurt to reach their respective finals...

 

Hope I am proved wrong...

[erskblue]

14 hours ago, Michael said:

Would take that scoreline for sure, but I think Hazzy is going to need to do the bulk of the work if we're to get four.  I know we put three past Watford but I'm still worried about where our goals are going to come from if Hazard doesn't fire.

Agreed, take that score line without any doubt.

Come on Chelsea !