That was the weekend of the troubled strikers. Robbie Keane scored two. Darren Bent scored two. Louis Saha scored two. Anelka fell one short of his second hattrick of the fortnight. Credit where it’s due. He found the net twice in a match that had two goals. The first one was another one of those Nicolas Anelka goals while the second one had a touch of class. Anelka is still he leading goal scorer in the premier league and I think that says a lot about how well we are playing and the number of chances we are creating. We are not seeing Di Santo at all. Is that part of the motivation package that Scolari has given to Nick? (pun intended).

On a rainy afternoon on a waterlogged away pitch against one of the most physical away teams, I wouldn’t ask for more than a win. Clean sheet was bonus. A brace to Anelka was a further bonus. Above all, in these conditions the fact that we didn’t lose anyone to any clumsy injuries was the biggest bonus. Blackburn fought hard, harder than I thought they would. I think they created as many chances as we did but did not have the luck or that extra bit of quality to score. And of course, they had big Petr between them and the goal.

I think I have this luck with me. I slate someone and they start performing. This has heppened with SWP, Joe Cole, Anelka, Terry, Cech and heck Avram Grant too (how long since we took his name?). So I mercilessly, biasedly, double standardly slate Anelka and he comes with his rip roaring performance. Well, not quite rip . . roaring . . let’s just say goal . . scoring performance. Allright I don’t want to be a bitch by saying he is scoring but he is scoring convincingly or something (oops I just said that!). For me, if he scores and we win, that’s more than enough. I care less about whether he scored with his left thigh or right foot or his left collar or with the Chelsea badge on his jersey. A goal is a goal by whatever name you call it.

But I think I would be right in saying that Anelka does not really inspire confidence with his performances. If we get to meet say, Barcelona or Juventus in the knockout round of the champions league, how much money would you put on Anelka steering us to victory? He could even win the golden boot but I don’t think I’ll say ‘Bring on Barca, we’ve got Anelka’. Fairplay to him. He has been improving albeit a too slow to my liking. He was missing sitters earlier and now he’s netting them.

I think we have notched up quite a number of 2-0 scores against Blackburn. Someone can look it up and confirm. Did we deserve to win? Absolutely. Did we deserve a 2-0 score? May be. A 2-1 score would have done justice. And that first goal was unsimulatable. I don’t know when another such goal would be scored. Anelka enthusiasts might say he was in ‘the right place at the right time’ – a phrase that we would like to attach to all crappy goals. But take nothing away from him for the second goal. His finish was class. He probably had one second to decide in that cramped space and his finish was silky smooth. Lampard should be awarded with 0.5 goals to his tally for his fantastic effort to win the ball and to give it to Anelka, from a very clumsy position.

I think Mikel should get some rest. With the pitch being so bad (due to the weather), I think Scolari did not want to risk Mineiro in this game. Even if Mineiro is not ready, I think Belletti should be able to step in for Mikel. We’ve got a very crucial period of football coming up for which Mikel should be in tip top fitness and form. Especially for the Arsenal game, he should not have played a game in the previous seven days. It’s not because I take Arsenal more seriously after their win over Man Utd, it’s in fact because we have got only one point from two games against the top four so far. A very capable defensive midfielder will play a big role against a team like Arsenal more than any other team.

Nice to see us back on top of the league. Liverpool have been surprisingly consistent this season. They are really building up the expectations for their players and fans. They have been winning even without Gerrard and Torres. Managing absences without any damage is quite common here at Chelsea but i didn’t think Liverpool will get stuck in and get the results. Traditionally, in the premier league, Liverpool has been out of the title race by Christmas. This time around, it could be different. Like Lampard said, I think Man Utd are still a major threat and I would even say they are a bigger threat than Liverpool irrespective what the table would show. Arsenal seems to pick themselves up for big games and go missing for the winnable games. I think we could see the tightest premier league finishes of recent times this season.

Chelsea face Burnley on Wednesday night at Stamford Bridge in the fourth round of the league cup. If I see Anelka walking into the pitch I’m gonna scream! I want to see Di Santo, Mineiro and the like to play for 90 minutes in this match. Drogba can also start with Di Santo so that he gets some playing time. I do have the bad memories of our defeat against a similiar sounding opponent last season. But I have always claimed that Chelsea cannot be upset by smaller teams because of the mentality and the way they play. I think it would be something like a 4-0.