PL Preview: Chelsea v. Birmingham City

By: Jack | April 19th, 2011

Revenge is at hand.

kalou

Who: Birmingham City
What: Premier League, Round 34
When: 19 April, 8pm local time (3pm EST)
Where: Stamford Bridge (42,449)
How: Fox Soccer Channel (DirecTV 619, Dish 149)

Why: Because, quite frankly, we should’ve battered them back in November. But, no, Ben Foster wasn’t having it. Time to reintroduce ourselves.

Also, because the possibility of finishing second is very real. A win against the Brum and anything but for Arsene’s ladies at White Hart Lane sees us level on points having played the same amount of games. Funny little world init There’s also this little nugget: While we may have written off a repeat title, it’s Carlo’s job to make sure the club remains as competitive as possible when even a remote possibility of that remains. Less than a win tonight for Manchester United on Tyneside would just about keep the door ajar. Not really, but Carlo – and the players – has to believe.

The team
What do do, what to do. The obvious would be to continue with the side that defeated West Bromwich. Problem is that, of our six remaining contests, three are against Spurs, Manchester United (a) and Everton. Rotation would appear to be crucial in making sure we solidify our place in the Champions League next season. Resting the likes of a Drogba here so they are full-tilt for Spurs, etc., seems like a must. But that’s just me. I expect Carlo to continue on with a similar team to the one that featured against West Brom.

Bane is carrying a slight hamstring problem, so I expect him to be rested. Bosingwa was excused from training today to attend to a personal matter. That would seem to rule him out as well. Paulo in, then. And I have no problem with that.

Nando probably has a decent shout to start, but I still expect him to get about 25-30 minutes in reserve. Many think this might be the day for him. I could care less – provided we win.

Preferred XI
Cech
Paulo-Bob-EBJT-Cole
Essien-Mikel-Lampard
Anelka-Drogba-Malouda

The odd stat or two
• Chelsea have won 63 percent of their games this season when Michael Essien has been included in the side. Without? 20 percent.
• This one is interesting. Flo has the best minutes per chance created rate in the league this term. 24.2 minutes.
• We’ve kept nine clear sheets in 13 PL matches against Birmingham City.
• I don’t like this one. Chelsea have won only three of 14 league games on Wednesdays in April.

Bonus: Carlo’s pre-match presser as well as assorted news from ChelseaTV.

Some Related Chelsea Posts:

Category: Chelsea Team News, Fixtures, Match Previews, Player News, Premier League

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arn00b

Hey, just a thought. If we win tomorrow, beat the Mancs at OT and Arsenal beats them too, we'd be tied for points, won't we?
Venkat

Yo ve to take in another point:) arsenal has to draw or lose today:) that has one more advantage as spurs may peep into 4th place which means man city wont compete much with our potential transfers:) den if manu loses to both arsenal and us.. We ll retain it.. I believe our main matches are against manu and everton.. That will decide our title.. I still firmly believe in it though.. Have been telling my friends for 3 weeks! Yday morning I was telling them if manu draws today, that'll bring us in:) it has happened:)
Jack

Indeed. Thought this myself over the weekend. We just need to focus on winning out and see where the chips fall.
arn00b

If that becomes the case, then we need to fix our goal difference. I feel that the season could end with a goalarama of sorts. United play their last two games against Blackburn and Blackpool. Blackburn, who let the Berbs score 5 and Blackpool who have the worst defensive record in the league.

We need to start scoring big now, every game. Bring on the goalathon.
Jack

Bring it on.
tc

pmsl you should have battered us in november,were you there ? we should have won after having a perfectly good goal chalked off.
Devin Anand

Get your facts straight before you attempt to come correct. Not saying you don't have a good chance of giving this match a run out, but you were hardly the better team back in November. Even the most fervent of fans would be hard pressed to deny such truths.
Jack

Absolute rubbish. You had one fucking shot on goal. Us? 32 shots, 63 percent possession. Get real.
Chelsea

We still have a slimmer of chance. Man U just tied Newcastle 0:0. Man U is now 9 points ahead of us, and we have 1 less game played. The game against Birmingham is now that more important. We could be 6 points closer if we beat Birmingham. We still play Man U at Old Trafford. Who knows??? I still believe!!!
Amsid

itl get even more tense if Le Arse can win, or preferably draw.

KTBFFH !!
Jack

Well, that's a good start to this round. Must capitalize.