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My Chelsea XI agasint Liverpool for Sunday:

Chelsea vs Liverpool

This is a must-win match for us. We cannot afford to go 6 points behind Man United (if they beat Arsenal). In the last two seasons, Chelsea did beat Liverpool 4 out of 4 times which is fantastic and I hope this run continues. If the matches played by Chelsea and Liverpool in the Champions League are any indication, it should. Between Jose and Rafa it is 5 Jose, 3 Rafa and 3 draws.

With Arjen Robben and Joe Cole back in the squad, the Chelsea playing XI and the bench are as strong as you would want. I feel Jose should play Bridge in place of Cole on Sunday and for Cole to regain his match fitness and form, he should play against the lesser oppositions. Now that we have this luxury, let’s use it. The reason why we need to go back to 4-3-3 against Liverpool is, this is the formation which would test their defence which is missing Riise. Also because 4-3-3 will allow Joe Cole and Arjen Robben to attack from wings. This formation and the first XI is probably Chelsea’s strongest team as of now.

We all know that Joe Cole and Robben are the kind of players who have the desire and also the ability to finish things on their own instead of sharing the burden with other mates. But, now that we have one of the best strikers in the world, they should also try to provide crosses to him from the wings, instead of trying to dribble through inside the box. And if there is one player I would like to see scoring on Sunday that is Lampard. Though his goal scoring has come down, he still plays beautifully well. And looks like Ballack has settled down nicely and he plays with immense confidence.

The real danger man who always troubles Chelsea is Luis Garcia. Someone like Essien should be marking him apart from the defenders. Most of their attacks are engineered by Garcia. Also the other player to be contained is Bellamy who provided the late cross to Crouch in the FA Community shield match. Though Gerrard is a quality player, he has not been too much of a trouble. I should admit that Liverpool is a stringer opposition than what they were whenever we met them in the last two seasons.

Coming from a heavy 3-0 defeat against Everton, I would expect Liverpool to ‘park the team bus in front of the goal’. Many predict that this would be a 0-0 or 1-1, but I feel this could be 2-0.

Man United vs Arsenal

This is a very interesting situation for a Chelsea fan. Who would you support when Man United plays Arsenal. I would prefer this to be a draw. Let’s discuss these the possibilities:

Man United win: More likely result. Man United have a very young and energetic attack in Saha and Rooney. Saha, despite being little erratic, is among the goals. If there is a Rooney moment, I dont think any Arsenal defender can catch him. I think Arsenal will certainly concede a penalty. If Man united wins, Arsenal would have an ocean to swim, not to win the title, but to have a remote chance to win the title. This will leave only Chelsea and Man United in the race, which is better for Chelsea as we know this Man United team cannot sustain the gruelling battle of 10 months.

Arsenal win: Near imposible, given the current circumstances. I dont see Arsenal beating any quality opposition with their current strategy of ‘pass-pass-pass-lose the ball’. To their benefit, Ryan Giggs and Ji-Sung Park would not play as they are out on injury. There are only two ways Arsenal can score or win, at the moment. One being a penalty for a dive in the box or shoot from outside the box. That’s how they won against Hamburg. But if at all, they do win, Chelsea and Man united will together top the table varying only in goal difference.

Draw – More preferable. Chelsea may not top the table in this result but still both rivals would have dropped 2 points. Arsenal desparately needs a win and Man United wants to extend their current run. A draw would mean both teams are disappointed and demoralised. May be, Arsene Wenger would be happy to take one point out of this difficult away game. But a draw would mean that even in mid-september they are yet to register a win in the premiership.

Likely score: 2-0. Unlikely score 0-1. Preferable score: 0-0.

[tags] Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Jose Mourinho, Arsene Wenger, Shevchenko, Arjen Robben, Joe Cole, Bridge, Lampard [/tags]