I have it in my head that we are always sh*t in 12:30 kick-offs, but I don't know if i've made that up or not.

7 minutes ago, Zeta said:

I have it in my head that we are always sh*t in 12:30 kick-offs, but I don't know if i've made that up or not.

I don't like them either and have the same feeling whether justified or not.

Let's hope that our players are not already dreaming of the winter break and chilling on out on a beach.

9 hours ago, Strider6003 said:

Think for this one, I would go for speed in defence and also based on injuries to Reece and Tammy,

                              Kepa

Lamptey      Rudiger        Tomori         Emerson

                  Kante           Kovacic

   Willian             Mount             CHO            

                           Bats

Bench:

Azpi, Barkley, Willy, Christensen, Jorginho

I suspect Lamptey won't feature as it looks like he is off to Lille. So probably Azpi at RB. I would prefer Alonso on the left but Emerson will probably start. I think Bats will definitely start up front unless Tammy makes a rapid recovery. Hopefully Bats can show he is worth a start by scoring a goal or 2. 

On 29/01/2020 at 05:49, evissy said:

Leicester is crumbling. Could it be we face them at the perfect moment. Win the game and start breathing down their necks.

They’re probably thinking it’s the perfect time to play us!

6 minutes ago, forbzy said:

I suspect Lamptey won't feature as it looks like he is off to Lille. So probably Azpi at RB. I would prefer Alonso on the left but Emerson will probably start. I think Bats will definitely start up front unless Tammy makes a rapid recovery. Hopefully Bats can show he is worth a start by scoring a goal or 2. 

You might be right and have the feeling Frank will start with Barkley.

Azpi is often fouling at RB at faster players and disguises it cleverly yet footy365 have picked up on it too, and if we can see it eventually refs will too and he will become like Ivanovic and fall swiftly,

Hopefully not this season. 

They had a tough midweek game, so that's a plus for us, other than that I'm not really confident about this, especially Vardy is back, up against the likes of Christensen or Zouma?

15 hours ago, Munkworth said:

They’re probably thinking it’s the perfect time to play us!

We are the perfect team to play when you need a result during a run of bad form, so frustrating to see us become whipping boys at times.

Edited January 31, 20206 yr by Malcolm9

18 hours ago, Munkworth said:

They’re probably thinking it’s the perfect time to play us!

Sadly, this  season many teams have had a bad run then played us and won.

 

On ?30?/?01?/?2020 at 12:53, Zeta said:

I have it in my head that we are always sh*t in 12:30 kick-offs, but I don't know if i've made that up or not.

When I started supporting us ,it was the 3pm Sat kick offs that were the problem !

On 30/01/2020 at 12:53, Zeta said:

I have it in my head that we are always sh*t in 12:30 kick-offs, but I don't know if i've made that up or not.

Me too. I'd love to see the actual stats. Anyone know of any source of those?

Many years ago, when we had a very young team under Eddie Mac, we had a horrific record in floodlit games, but barely lost any Saturday 3pm kick offs ( We did get stuffed 3-0 at Millwall, though).

On 30/01/2020 at 12:53, Zeta said:

I have it in my head that we are always sh*t in 12:30 kick-offs, but I don't know if i've made that up or not.

Don't say that mate, otherwise it will develop into some type of Self-fulfilling prophecy and the players will believe it is true. I have heard that we do really well in early kick-offs and this information needs to be shared more readily.

Any chance of Kepa warming the bench instead of the goal line?

Biggest game of our season. It is really important that we don't play into Leicester's game, have all the ball and let them set up to counter which is their whole game. 

We need to be narrow and compact and ready to shut down any sniff of a counter. For me that means Jorginho rides the bench and Kante and Kovacic start. 

Kepa, James, Rudiger, Tomori, Azpilicueta, Kante, Kovacic, Mount, Willian, CHO, Tammy.

Match Day.

Come on Chelsea !

Nerves kicking in already...

Match day.....COME ON YOU BLUES !

19 hours ago, Backbiter said:

Me too. I'd love to see the actual stats. Anyone know of any source of those?

I had the same gut feeling as Zeta, so I had a look at the past four seasons (Conte 1, Conte 2, Sarri, Lampard), and specifically at 12:30 kickoffs. The early Saturday kickoffs the season prior to that seemed to be at 12:45.

The record is surprisingly good, in 15 games we won 10, drew 3 and lost 2, scoring 33 and conceding 16. Saying that, two of those draws and one defeat came in the past season and a half (i.e. Lampard and Sarri), in which we have only (so far) played five 12:30 kickoffs.

 

 

Edited February 1, 20206 yr by PloKoon13
Typo

Weird isn’t it, how you always feel they will do crap when it’s early kick off.

1 minute ago, dansubrosa said:

Weird isn’t it, how you always feel they will do crap when it’s early kick off.

I would suggest it is a natural negativity caused by the lingering hangover from Friday.

Kepa dropped.

1 minute ago, chef said:

Kepa dropped.

It’s about time. 

Why keep picking Mount? He’s done nothing to justify it. 

Surprised to see Pedro, and no Giroud yet again. Really isn’t fair on him that we won’t sell him, going to cost him a place at euros if it stays the same.

I suspect Pedro is back in the team due to his finishing. Probably our best finisher behind Abraham.

Christensen against Vardy...there's a pace battle right there...another weird team selection from Frank...