please log in to view this image Good evening fellow blues, apologies for the lack of match thread for the QPR game but I quite simply could not be arsed . Coming into this important clash with Newcastle off the back of a tremendous 6-1 anhilation of QPR today with goals coming from Sturridge, Terry, Malouda and of course Fernando Torres with a hat trick! One downside of this fixture is that it comes 2 days before the FA Cup Final against Liverpool on Saturday so expect some key names to be rested! David Luiz is expected to be fit otherwise Branislav Ivanovic will make his return from suspension to pair with JT. Form Chelsea Tottenham 1-5 - W Barcelona 1-0 - W Arsenal 0-0 - D Barcelona 2-2 - D QPR 6-1 - W Newcastle Liverpool 2-0 - W Swansea 0-2 - W Bolton 2-0 - W Stoke 3-0 - W Wigan 4-0 - L Newcastle come to the bridge after a shock 4-0 thrashing against Wigan so hopefully we can take advantage of a hopefully disturbed mood in the Toon camp as well as our high spirits after reaching the CL final. Predicted Line Ups Chelsea please log in to view this image Took a stab at that, I predicted we'd play a weakened team (bar the defence) today but it was fairly strong! Newcastle please log in to view this image Predicted by Frost NUFC Winning this game would mean we go withing 2 points of the gooners and provided Spurs slip up to a struggling Bolton away, into fourth! My prediction is that we'll win this one, I can't see them causing an upset at the Bridge in our current form. I'll go with 3-1 Chelsea KTBFFH! COME ON CHELSEA please log in to view this image
I think you've pretty much got the team but I think Sturridge will play in place of Kalou and Torres in place of Drogba.
Bertrand's been just as good this season imo and we'll need Cole for to tough games against Liverpool next week!
Torres form makes it tricky to drop him and I think he should play v Newcastle. Then Drog can play Sat at his favorite place.
We should win this. Even the most ardent of Toon fans must admit they have been playing above themselves this season. They look like they were stung against Wigan and our team is on a high after reaching 2 cup finals and thrashing QPR 6-1, so I would expect us to win. Credit to Newcastle though, I was expecting maybe mid table from them this season and they have astonished most people with their good form. I just think that they may be on a bit of a come down towards the run in. But they are going to finish atleast 6th and get a Euro Place, which is more than anyone expected of them at the start of the season
I shouldnt imagine our team to be as shown above... We have to win all of our remaining games to get top 4 (To have a chance anyway). Our Line-Up will probably be quite attacking... ----------------------Krul---------------------- Simpson----Williamson----Coloccini-----Santon ----------------------Tiote--------------------- -----------Cabaye------------Gutierrez-------- ---------Ben Arfa-------Cisse-------Ba-------- Unless any of the above are missing then that would be the line-up... If this was a November (Mid season game) then we would probably play for the point but seeing as how we have nothing to lose and every point is a bonus then i see us really going for the attack...
I know! What should be a standard win for spurs or two teams fighting for champions league... Tremendous thinking! Hoping it's a good game though.. (and hoping RDM rests a few!!)...
The only thing is, we went into the Wigan game very high on confidence and form and look at what happened at us. Whilst confidence has its positives, it can also leave times vulnerable for being brought back down to earth with a bump if they underestimate the opposition. I'm hoping you guys do underestimate us and that we're seen as underdogs, as that tends to be when we play our best football. Every time I think we'll struggle for a win, we come out all guns blazing. Ironically enough, the Wigan match is the one game where I saw a lot of our fans were very confident of a win, and look at what happened. Wigan are giving 150% in games and constantly pressing for the ball, not giving any teams an inch of space. I don't think Chelsea need (or want) to press as hard as Wigan have done lately, so we may get a little more time on the ball, and this is where our front three can cause so many problems.
Thanks to Drogs for the invite to the matchday thread, I was hoping to pay my first visit to Stamford Bridge, midweek fixture made it impossible. We've not played our best anywhere in London this season, hopefully we can change that tomorrow, you have a very busy few weeks, we may be able to take advantage of that. Really looking forward to the game, even though I'm a little anxious, let's hope there's a decent stream for those of us who can't attend.
Any news on their injuries? According to the Beeb, they will be back for the Cup final on the weekend which would be a huge boost.
I hope we don't risk either of them and stick with JT and Ivan.As neither can play in Munich we should run them in to the ground before hand.
