Nothing major, in some ways, but it’s certainly called for a bit of a defensive & midfield re-think in our manger’s bonce ahead of this fixture; whilst acting as a reminder also about just how small-in-numbers (high in quality, of course) we are compared to other clubs.
If we had the 7s, 10s and even 12s out injured as some of the other sides have, we'd either have a bench full of kids or no one at all!
v Chelsea
 |
| Stamford Bridge |
Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:
(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 8/11).
A very fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-2-3-1:
____________________Haaland____________________
____________________Alvarez____________________
Doku_____________________________________Foden
_____________________Silva______________________
_____________________Rodri_____________________
Gvardiol__________________________________Walker
____________Ake________________Dias____________
____________________Ederson____________________
Subs: Carson, Ortega, Lewis, Akanji, Phillips, Kovacic, Nunes, Grealish & Bobb.
Ederson in goal.
I’m going for a back-4 of Josko, Nathan, Ruben & Kyle.
Rodders to play the deepest of our midfielders and ahead of him is a 3, or 4, of Jeremy, Bernardo, Julian & Phil.
Erling ‘up top’ alone but closely supported by Alvarez, who is likely to play in ‘the hole’ between the attacking midfielders and striker.
With injuries such as they are, there might be a place for an additional keeper for this league fixture; with Scott keeping Stefan company on the “bench” 💺. Rico and recently-recovered (from a minor back niggle) Manuel are the defenders on the side, while Kalvin, Matteo, Matheus, Jack & Oscar are the rather large number of midfielders and wingers / forwards in ‘the 9’.
Notable absences:
- John Stones – Out for this match with a muscular / thigh issue, I think it is, and will be assessed after the up & coming international break; for which he won’t take part in, of course. Unknown return date at this time.
- Sergio Gomez – Was last seen on crutches about a week ago following a twisted ankle he acquired in training. I’ve heard no updated news about the Spaniard since, so I’m assuming that he’s not yet fully recovered.
- Kevin De Bruyne – Continues to train alone whilst being assessed by physios after each & every session and still isn’t running / running much. However, the news is that he’s “feeling good” and his manager gets the impression that it won’t be too long now before Kevin is back training with his teammates, which would signal the start of the final process before being considered for match-day action. Looks like a mid-to-late December return, rather than a first-predicted January one, is possibly on the cards.
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?
Result? Chelsea have been described, very recently, as an “improving side”. Fair enough. However, I think that so-called improvement has come from a fairly low starting point to say the least, by their standards, and their progression looks like this in the league in their last 6 outings: L W W D L W.
As I say…improvement, yes, but from a low-starting point.
And whilst victory in their last game looks very impressive reading at first glance – a 1-4 away win at very much in-form Spurs – it came as the home side went down to 10-men on 33 minutes; lost their in-form creative midfielder, James Maddison, around the half-time mark and then went down to 9-men on 55 minutes. Despite all of that, Chelsea only just managed to squeeze themselves past their hosts; making it 1-2 on 75-minutes before making the scoreline look impressive with 2 goals on 94 & 97-minutes respectively. I’ve even heard two Chelsea fans saying that despite the imbalance in the number of players on the pitch, it wasn’t a particularly impressive performance from their side.
Of course they have good players spread throughout their team and a manager of some standing. There’s also the, “Cole Palmer / ex-City player factor” to consider and, yes; ANY upturn in form and results is to be considered a positive.
Another factor for us to-perhaps be wary of, if we are to believe a Chelsea-watching pundit that I heard speaking on the radio a couple of weeks back, is that, apparently, Chelsea don’t fare too well against sides who ‘sit & defend’ and then counter but DO tend to do better against sides who ‘come at them’. Well…I don’t think I need to tell anyone that we’re most certainly not a side to stick two busses in front of our roaming goalkeeper but ARE, instead, very much a side who likes to keep possession and press the opposition. That could be an interesting scenario to watch unfold…
Regardless, I have to look at how both sides are performing at the moment, improvement or otherwise, and although at one stage this week I was half-contemplating a draw; I’ve changed my mind in the last couple of days. I’m going for a potentially tough game, yes, but one I believe we’ll win.
Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result:
Prediction: Win
Result: Won
(Pre-match blog posting from that game)
Expected weather conditions during the game: Practically the same forecast as our last two home games – dull ‘n’ damp. Yep, it’s ‘Groundhog Day’ weather-wise with dark clouds, light rain, 9C and with a light, southerly breeze. Pitch should be good for some slick passing after being drizzled on for most of the day.
Lest we forget
Solidarity
