Early season form has seemed to escape us, consecutive draws have seen us fal off the perch of the Premier League. It doesnt get any easier, as we take a trip to the Midlands, to face a side that beat us 1-0 in this fixture last year.
Away days have been our forte this season, picking up memorable wins at both Arsenal and Tottenham already, and we are yet to be beaten on the road.
However, Chelsea fans won’t need a great memory to recall our 1-0 loss at The Hawthorns last year, but despite that, we have won 11 out of the 12 Premier League clashes between the clubs, which is the stat that our faithful will be concentrating on.
The Baggies have had their own little run this year, only two late goals from Edin Dzeko have prevented them from recording a super six victories at home this season.
It’s a key position in any team and one that Claude Makélelé all but had named after him – The Makélelé Role. Yet, regardless of the money Chelsea have spent this summer, some still believe they need to strengthen their midfield.
With the ‘Three Amigos’ – Eden Hazard, Oscar and Juan Mata – charged with supporting the lone front-man, the back four need to be shielded. As good as Ramires is, his all action approach means his input would be wasted if he was to sit back and defend.
Im guessing I wasn’t the only one to wince when John Terry buckled under the weight of Luis Suarez in the first-half of the Liverpool clash yesterday.
With an ear-piercing screech from Terry, thousands of Chelsea fans muttered ‘Please don’t be bad’ in unison, as we began to figure out that we would certainly need to finish of Liverpool without our captain. Which of course we failed to do.
With Man United scraping three points last night, a win today is even more vital as we look to close the gap at the top back down to one point, and further distance ourselves from the chasing pack.
Standing in our way is Brendan Rodgers and his Liverpool side, who despite their stuttering form so far, can certainly cause us a problem, especially with Luis Suarez looking to add to his 7 goals from just 10 games so far in the league.
Chelsea Football Club released their financial documentation ending June 30th this week, surprisingly recording a £1.4m profit, mostly down to the Champions League win we recorded last May.
Everyone in the Chelsea camp had been sweating over the Financial Fair Play rules that are soon to be implemented. But with a profit this year, on the back of a £67.7m loss last year, that is sure to please those that are involved.
Those of you who remember pint-sized Deco’s move to Fluminese back in 2010, may also remember that we received s first-option on one of their most promising youngsters, the full-back named Wallace.
Predominantly a right-back, he can also do a good job on the left, which is why I believe we have exercised our option on him, with Ashley Cole set to be leaving next summer.
As far as goalscoring is concerned, it’s a problem that Chelsea are likely to have pushed to the back of their mind. Although they did draw a blank against QPR, and suffered a 1-1 draw against Swansea on the weekend.
Yet, there is cause for concern on the front-line. Predominant front-man Fernando Torres has netted just six goals in all competitions for the Blues this season, four of which have come in the Premier League. The departure of Didier Drogba over the summer left a hugely impressive void the needed to be filled and, despite what many may proclaim, the Spaniard isn’t the man to do that.