How many of you think that it’s better to play the so-called big teams away from home, early in the season? I’d be so happy if we play Man Utd at Old Trafford next week and Arsenal at Ash-Grave the week after. Given our brilliant home league record, I’d like to save these trump cards for a later date. With this season looking to be a nail-biter, playing key matches at home at a later stage will mean even more.
Except for the 1-4 goal-riot at Anfield in 05-06, whenever Jose meets Rafa, what we see in a very tight and tactically sound matches canceling out each other. This time, I believe it could be different. I believe we could see three goals this match, Chelsea getting two of them. The logic is, we seem to be playing well. With the kind of team intelligence that we show in attacks, we could score two goals against any team. Against Birmingham, we should have score 6 or something. Against Reading, we knew that we closed shop after the second goal. Against Liverpool, we would be looking to win. With Man Utd losing points, Jose would surely like to put the lead well beyond Fergie’s reach. With more and more people expecting Man utd to lose points against City, a Chelsea win against Liverpool would be really sweet.
Team news is all positive. Only Carvalho, Ballack, Sheva and Bridge are unavailable. Captain John is back. We could again deploy an attacking 4-4-2 with Malouda and SWP as the wide midfielders. Before the start of this season, I thought Joe Cole would keep SWP out of the game and see what’s happened now! Drogba should start with Pizarro and Kalou replacing later on, if and only if Pizarro is not sharp enough. Lampard and Mikel should play in the centre. That said, it’s quite possible that Jose would change the formation to 4-3-3 if things don’t seem to go our way. At the back, it should be Terry and Ben Haim in the centre and Cole and Paulo as full backs. Alex is still not back to his full fitness and we might see him only after a week or two.
Rafa has decided to play Gerrard despite his broken toe. That’s a strange decision. It’s only Liverpool’s second premier league match this season, that too at home, but he would still take the risk of playing an injured Gerrard. One tough tackle and he could be out for weeks or months. Anyway, that shows the intensity from their side. They’ve spent a lot of money this season and if Rafa does not win the title this season, it could be over for him. So, he must look forward to this match as a morale-booster for his team to believe that they can win the title.
Fernando Torres would also start against Chelsea, most probably. I truly pity Peter Crouch and his lack of opportunities. Against all odds, he did silence his critics (me included) last season with his wonderful performance. He even scored some incredible goals that you would not expect from him at all. Torres, did have a decent first game. Not too brilliant and not too awful. He had his chances and shot way off target but his control on the ball and dribble were good. Mikel or Essien would do the second marking on Torres, I guess. In my eyes, Kuyt is in fact a bigger threat that Torres.
The corresponding fixture of the last season was a disaster. With no Terry and Carvalho, Essien and Paulo were in central defence. Even before this match, we were hit by a series of draws and we mentally down and worn out. At this stage, with a full team, what best Liverpool could do was to beat us 2-0. After this match, Chelsea did not lose even one match in the premier league.
With the current team strength and form, in my eyes, Chelsea are undoubtedly the favourites, while a score draw can also be a possibility. Even the opinion poll in this blog reflects this. Out of the 53 votes so far, remarkably, not even one vote has gone for a goalless draw. Expectation is right as we have in our squad, the most prolific goal scorers against Liverpool – Joe Cole (4 goals) and Drogba (3 goals) in the 15 Jose-Rafa encounters so far. Naturally, Jose leads the head-to-head with 7 wins and Rafa managed 5 wins.
Our ‘midfield wingers’ will make the difference against Liverpale. And that’s been the case always. Whenever we played 4-3-3, or with wide players, we have come on top against them. Joe Cole has This match would be the real test for SWP. He’s played extremely well in the last couple of matches and if he does well against ‘Liverpale’, surely Joe Cole must start worrying about his starting place. Against quality defence, SWP of last season would poorly lose the ball, create no impact and waste opportunities.
I hope Rafa gets a taste of what/who he missed, when he sees Malouda making a mess of Liverpale defence. The Arsenal mates at their blogs are already repenting that they did not get Malouda, and our man is getting widespread admiration for how nicely he has settled with the English game and also makes such strong performances so early this season.
Pizarro deserves a start ahead of Kalou, I believe. Kalou still needs to sharpen his final ball skills. He certainly has huge potential and he can even reach his personal target of 20 goals. When Kalou gets the ball, he has this idea in his mind which he badly wants to execute at any cost. When he beats the defender fine, otherwise that shows him as a one-dimensional player. Whereas Pizarro, keeps his options open. He does something more than Kalou does, he looks around for other options, he quickly in micro seconds weighs the alternatives and executes perfectly. Kalou lacks this kind of matured and smart decision making in split seconds.
I have a feeling that Rafa has found a chink in our armour in the form of our set-piece defending. The two goals we conceded from free kicks, Riise in the FA Community Shield in 06-07 and Agger in the second leg of champions league semi-finals in 06-07, formed my opinion. With no Carvalho, the close range free kicks should not be recklessly given away, if given, we should negotiate them well. I’d be completely gutted to let another goal through free kicks.
Rob Styles, the man who tried his best to see Man Utd win against Reading last week, would be the referee for this match. I hope he does a good job. We have about 5 to 6 players on yellow and this match would see both the teams gather few more.
If we win, our man of the match could be Jose Mourinho again. Now with the variety of players he has gathered, Jose’s tactics and methods look very dangerous for the opponents. Now, he can go gung-ho and slaughter the opponent or grind out when required as well – in short, he can do anything. If you have any doubts, check out this brilliant piece on Chelsea website on Jose Mourinho’s tactics.
Straying off-topic, I’ve nominated (because you guys wouldn’t do . . grrr) BlueChampions for the BloggersChoice Awards. If you think BlueChampions deserves the ‘best sports blog’ award or ‘best blog design’ award, please spend a minute to vote! Thanks, because I know you’d do!
At the start of the season, Man Utd started as the favourites and we all believed that it’s on their being defending champions than on the relative strengths of the squads. Now, Chelsea looking very strong and determined, having won 6 points in 2 games while Man Utd has dropped 4 points, the odds have changed. The best price from easyodds show here that Chelsea are 13/10 to win the premier league while Man Utd are 2/1. As regards this match, Liverpool are the favourites with 13/8 and Chelsea come next at 21/10.
The Manchester derby get over before we kick off. I don’t think United will get beaten or something. They are under pressure and if they don’t deliver now, it can be quite a mini-crisis, engineered by the Press. But, I think Man City will get a point from this game. My final verdict for our game is, 2-1 for us, Malouda and Drogba scoring for us for a 2-0 lead and Kuyt scoring a consolation goal late on.
See you then. Blue Devil – Keep The BlueChampions Flag Flying High :-)
Let’s silence Anfield and make them walk alone!
[tags]Chelsea, Liverpool, Anfield, Premier League, Jose Mourinho, Rafa Benitez, Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres, Dirk Kuyt, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Pizarro, Manchester United, Manchester City, Derby[/tags]
Let www.easyodds.com give you the Best odds for all Chelsea Markets. Click here to view and compare odds from over 20 bookmakers!
cool analysis!………….i will vote for this blog,BC……..well…chelsea will beat liverpool…
The Anfield Historical Society has an American owner who did not think to bring the club back over here to play one pre-season game against any of our MLS teams. Chelsea is owned by a man who has little or nothing to do with the American game. Yet, from my second season of supporting the club, they have been supporting real football in my country on and off the pitch. This has made my alliegience to Chelsea even stronger and further despise Everton’s derby rivals.
I am hoping and praying for Chelsea to come away with another 4-1 humiliation of Rafa. I wish nothing bad on Steven Gerrard (I confess, I do admire him a bit). But, the fact that they are willing to risk him this early in the season shows me they do not have the depth of quality players needed to win the Prem.
Y’all have a good one.
well said BC, even i’m happy that we are traveling to anfield with no fatigue problems etc. we are in form and we are on fire in fact. if chelsea takes the lead, no way liverpool will equalise. this match jose would concentrate on 3 points than anything else.
there’s nothing bigger than humiliating them at anfield but i would take 0-1 win too. i prefer 4-3-3 as that’s what they find it difficult to handle. my team is: cech, terry, ben haim, a.cole, diarra (RB), Essien, Mikel, Lampard, malouda, swp and drogba. we can murder them with this team.
we will win and this is rafa’s last season. if he is not in no.2 or no.1 by december, he’d get the sack sooner.
i’d have diarra for ferreira, other than that i agree with your team BC. how about 4-3-3 with kalou and malouda as wingers and SWP in side midfield?
4-3-3 is better.
SWP and Malouda wingers , Mikel , Maka and Lampard center.
this way we can come out with a good draw or win.
using diarra is a good idea.
Chelsea must be quick off the blocks..we usually build up the tempo as the game progresses..liverpool will b expecting that esp as we are playing at anfield..we must surprise them by attacking right at the beginning..that will set thm back a lill bit n we’ll get the momentum going for us…then over the course of the game..we natuarlly get stronger n more dangerous..
Liverpool are more than capable of scoring..our defence has looked a bit suspect over the last 3 games including the Community shield..Hopefully the return of terry will tighten things up a bit..i would like to see alex at cb..i prefer alex there rather than ben haim..paulo at RB..
Paulo , alex , Terry , Cole
SWP/Joe , Essien/Mikel , Lamps , Moaluda
Drogba, Pizzaro
That would be a good team against liverpool..
even a tight 1-0 victory would do..its important that we keep a clean sheet..none of the other teams should feel we are losing it defensively..that aura of invincibility built up by the defence over the last 3 seasons should b maintained
We need to control the ball and and the pace of the game, We have excellent players and there are going to be opportunities to score.
If Pizarro don’t play ,we’ll loose. He’s a strong player used to this kind of matches. The Pizarro effect increase the performance of others players SWP 50% , Malouda 10%, Drogba 15%, Lampard 20%, Don’t you notice we contriol the game when he is in the field?
My team:
——————————- Cech———————————-
Ferreira——-Terry———————-Ben Haim——-Ashly
———————– Essien//Mikel——————————-
———SWP——————–Lampard——–
————-——Pizarro—————————Malouda
———————————–Drogba—————————–
BC, what can I say? I totally agree with you about Kuyt, I am very “scared” of that guy, he is lethal, he is always lurking around near the goal and definitely has a killer shot, Cech needs to be extra alert! I wish we have Essien, it would be great if Ricardo plays too, Kalou should not start, Joe Cole should start.
I wish your prediction comes true :)!!!! Go Chelsea..
hello there guys, looking forward to the match against the pools tommorow, the pressure is all on them. hope we win or a draw is even good enuff. i have just started a chelsea blog at http://www.chelcbloggers.blogspot.com. feel free to check it out and add comments. i am starting a poll on Dani Alves and there are clips of him on there too. so feel free to drop by. Forever Chelsea
BC, fear not we are all voting en masse. If there is posibility of multile voting let me know, hehe hehe (lol).
4-4-2 is my bet for tomorrow. I will prefer Diara for Paulo if Haim cannot play there. Pizarro and drogs must start.
If we need to do a 4-3-3 however to contain them better, this will b my team,
—————————————–Cech——————————————
—-Diarra—————-Haim————————terry——————-A. Cole
——————————————Mikel——————————————
——————–Lamps—————————————-Joe Cole———–
—-SWP————————————Drogs—————————-Malouda—
yes MourofEssien i think ur formation is good .. i will prefer J.Cole than Makelele … even Swp/Malouda can play there so they can change positions if we need to .. and Chelsea will win 0-1 or 0-2 ( Terry with a header ) … Cmon BLUES Good LucK
hey guys , are u sure u know we are gonna play versus Liverpool .
Start offensively , are u kidding me. if we start offensively , liverpool will kill us in first half.
I think we should try no to concede any goal first 30 minutes. that’s why we should start like this , if Maka was ready .
————1—————-
20——22——26——-3 Alex won’t play because he has not practiced with others , by the way, I like Ben Haim more. I saw Alex’s games in Copa America and I think he is not reliable.
—-8—–4——12——- we use 2 defensive players , Mikel and Maka , thereby we can control Liverpool better .
–24——-11——15—-
then , we can change Maka in second half.
Cleen Sheet , I don’t think so because of two reasons
1-our defense is not that strong, thet would be better after Carvaliho and Bridge return . Ashly is not ready ( just look at his game versus reading)
2- Liverpool has a great offensive line this year , I think they will score versus all teams in EPL at Anfield this season , and we are not exception.
3- Cech, I can not count on him anymore. he is good but ….
if I was not a chelsea fan , I would predict Liverpool 1-0 Chelsea
but I am a chelsea fan and I predict , Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea.
Brilliant, Maysam I really like your formation. I agree that we should be defensive the first thirty minutes, and I’ve already said… we should play Makalele.
Don’t worry about Cech, by the way. No player makes 0 mistakes. He just made a mistake, is all. But his positioning was brilliant on a couple of other strikes (Doyle’s blast comes to mind) and he’s strong enough mentally to bounce back and keep improving. I mean come on, along with Buffon, Casillas, Canisarez, and perhaps Reina, he’s the absolute best. I’m glad he made the mistake against a team we can come back on, is all. He’s bound to make mistakes, everyone does. But that one’s out of the way, and now we can look forward to another eternal stretch of perfect play, positioning, and reactions from him.
Liverpool is a terrific team. At the moment they seem better than Man U for me, even on paper. Voronin, Torres, Crouch, and Babel are a great front-line. Gerrard is immense in a very good midfield, and defensively, they’re probably the best team in the league with Carvalho not playing and our chaos at RB. It’s going to be tough, but I say 1-2 for us. I think Jose’s going to outwit Benitez once again, and we’ll sneak in a goal more than Liverpool. 1-2, with Gerrard, Malouda, and Drogba scoring.
And for those of you doubting in Benitez’s ability or his stability at the club, trust me, he’s going no where. They like him there, he’s gotten them to two CL finals in three years, with a 50% record in those matches, he’s been good for them. This year I think they’ll give Manchester a good run for their money for second place, and Rafa’s going to be in Liverpool for a while. If he does go, anyways, it won’t be because of results.
I realize Kalou’s still young, but he is immensley frustrating. I don’t want to see him this game. Start with Pizarro and finish with him, I say. He’s been the man of the year so far. If we need to substitute him, Joe Cole’s a perfect option. Stick him in that pocket ahead of Makalel/Mikel/Lampard/Essien. He’ll do wonders for Drogba.
I hope JM starts Makalele. The old guy’s decision making and self-control are superior to Mikel’s and that’s what we need. Just playing for 50 minutes or an hour, and then Mikel can have his fun.
Anyways, if we play 4-3-3 (I hope we do) Essien and Lampard are going to have to stay back and defend a bit more, no matter who’s the third player there. I hope it’s Joey or Pizarro, though!
I want a draw today with Chelsea outclassing them in the flair department in the first half ( it will send shivers thru the footballing world) and out-muscling them in a game of footy chess italian style in the second half ( more shivers).
Go-Go-GO !!!!!!! Chelsea !!!!!!!!!
But a nice scrappy boring 0-1 win would not be bad either
Adonis : yes you are right ,I think I was too hard on Cech.
2-1 for us is very good . but even if we lost, nothing would happen .
I predict 1-0 for liverpool but I sould tell you , i am not a good predictor , versus Reading , I said we are not gonna win this game after first half but we won. I hope this happens again.
[...] Ronaldo or Wayne Rooney and Liverpool hosting Chelsea (check out a great preview of that match on Blue Champions) there is sure to be some points dropped by Arsenal’s major title rivals. If Wenger’s [...]
A win a and beer for All CFC fans
And kick in he butt for the Red Devilish in the Blue half of their town
I have not watched much of Loserpool yet apart from the pre season against feyenord. I watched them against toulouse. I don’t think they looked awsome as some of you are saying. I know tho that no matter their form, they will always play way above their ability when they meet us. It is like let us prove to the world that the blues are no better mentality.
Should we burst out of the block or build up slowly? How did we beat them 4-1 in Anfield? We took the game over to them right from the blast of the whistle. That match came just 3 days after the CL match which ended in a draw and Benitez`was boasting all over that we were scared of them, so Mour and the boys threw caution to winds and went after them.
I still work on the assumption that Essien is not starting. I prefer Mikel(ele) to makalele- Maka, IMO, is no more what he used to be. It is not by accident that from the second half of last season he was mostly on the bench. we need the young Mikel to do the job in this fast paced game. Mikel is cool headed and composed especially in collecting and passing (despite occasional loss of his head).
Our real assets must be SWP and Malouda. These two must be at the top of their game both i the attacking sense and in helping cover spaces when we are defending.
All in all, I trust Mour to do a great job. I am not even looking at a close result. we will win emphatically to make a statement, trust me. I hope tho that diarra starts ahead of Paulo.
By the way Guys, its been immensely quiet on the Robben front. Has Real finally given up or waiting for us to fork up a ridiculous fee for alvez for the deal to get thro. O, how i wish Kenyon will tell sevilla to go stick it up where the sun don’t shine. 25m pounds for a RB, come on!!!!!!
Voted for this blog mate!
Blues all the way!
Cheers,
HP
Man.City-M.Utd 1-0 78min … Cmon City
City Wins!!!
Yep … Cmon Chelsea ….. CHAMPIOOOOOOOOOON