Friday, January 29, 2010

Prematch Review : Chelsea vs Burnley

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Chelsea will face Burnley on Saturday in an away match to make the grip firm on table. Chelsea being played 22 matches is at the top of the table with 51 points. Chelsea has a golden opertunity on Saturday to increase the point difference with Manchester United and Arsenal.

Chelsea has been under excellent form this season under the new manager Ancelotti. The Blues have shown alot of character and has been in fantastic form last two matches defeating Sunderland 7-2 and Birmingham City 3-0 . And the return of their star striker Drogba after the African nations cup will give definitely a boost.
Burnley have failed to win in the league since October but their home form does remain their saving grace - at Turf Moor they have only lost once and leaked just nine goals, a defensive record that is only marginally worse than Chelsea’s (lost none and conceded eight) at Stamford Bridge.
It’s been over two decades since Chelsea last made a league trip to Turf Moor; back in the old Second Division in 1983, they came away with a 2-1 win. The Clarets will be hoping they can pull off something of a shock against the in-form Blues this time around as they attempt to stave off the looming threat of relegation under new boss Brian Laws.

Key Players ::

* Drogba :
The super striker has came back after the African Nations. He can be a real danger when he is in mood.

* Lampard :
Rated as the best attacking midfielder in the world , the English international is in real good form recently. He netted the ball twice against Birmingham at Stamford bridge.Burnley will have to sweat alot to keep knuckles on him.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Chelsea 3- 0 Birmingham City Match Highlights

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Chelsea trash Birmingham City to regain the top spot ( chelsea 3-0 birminham city )

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Chelsea stormed back to the top of the Premier League with another superb home performance as they ended Birmingham's 15-match unbeaten run in fine style.

Florent Malouda got the ball rolling with the simplest of headers after some good work down the right by Joe Cole.

And Frank Lampard grabbed the second with a typically pin-point 20-yarder.

Birmingham had only two shots on goal, Petr Cech saving the best from Keith Fahey, and Lampard slammed in a third late on to wrap up a comprehensive win.

The results means the Londoners, thanks in part to rivals Arsenal's failure to beat Aston Villa at Villa Park, return to the top of the table after falling off the number one spot last weekend for the first time in three months.
And with key striker Didier Drogba due to return to the squad this weekend following the Ivory Coast's exit from the Africa Cup of Nations, the Blues' title rivals could not possibly underestimate the challenge Chelsea pose in such apparently irrepressible form.

Not that Chelsea have missed the frontman's presence, as they have scored 17 goals in the four matches they have played without him.

This, too, was a performance full of intent from the hosts, and against one of the most in-form sides in the Premier League.

Had they held out against Carlo Ancelotti's side, Birmingham would have equalled Nottingham Forest's record of of 13 matches unbeaten for a newly-promoted side in the top flight - set in 1994-95 season.
But resisting a Chelsea outfit that has won 31 out of 33 points available at Stamford Bridge this season, including a 7-2 rout of Sunderland last time out, was always going to be a difficult proposition.

The visitors simply had no answer to Chelsea's passing and movement. With Deco the fulcrum, Lampard typically effervescent, and Joe Cole always inventive, Birmingham were given barely a glimpse of the football all night.

And the visitors' task was made all the more difficult by Malouda's early goal.

Joe Cole, in arguably his best performance since his return from a knee injury, created it, beating Lee Bowyer for pace down the right and then crossing to present Malouda with the easiest task of heading home unmarked from six yards out.

Cameron Jerome saw his shot deflected narrowly over the Chelsea crossbar off his strike partner Chucho Benitez at the other end, but the hosts' dominance was otherwise complete.

Joe Cole twice went close with long range efforts, Ballack stung the palms of keeper Joe Hart, and Ricardo Carvalho slammed a header against the post from a Malouda corner as the Londoners toyed with Birmingham at times.

So it was no surprise when Chelsea doubled their lead, Lampard finding plenty of room on the edge of the box, taking a touch, and then slamming precisely into the far corner.

It prompted a slight relaxation in the hosts' approach, allowing Birmingham a rare spell in possession, but Ancelotti's men were back on their mettle at the start of the second half and Ballack, twice, threatened a third.

First he brought a smart stop from Hart with a neat header from Ashley Cole's cross and then his clever flick from Malouda's corner drifted narrowly over.

Birmingham, though, have been nothing if not resolute this season, and twice in a couple of minutes they forged chances out of nothing with the minutes ticking down.

James McFadden should have done better when he dragged wide of Cech's goal from inside the box, before substitute Fahey brought a flying save from the Czech keeper moments later when his toe-poke looked to be heading into the top corner.

It was an admirable, albeit brief, rally from the visitors but it served only in focusing the Chelsea players as they entered the closing stages.

And few could argue that Chelsea did not deserve the third when it came, Lampard striding on to Malouda's pass and firing low past Hart with barely a minute left on the clock.

It means Birmingham stay eighth in the table, though they need feel no shame in succumbing to a superb Chelsea performance.

As for the hosts, an 11th clean sheet of the season only added to a fine night at Stamford Bridge as they march forward in their attempts to win the league title for the first time since 2006.

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti:
"We use all the pitch to attack and so Frank is able to run into the box to score. I think he's the best running midfielder in the world. He has this fantastic quality to time his run into the box.

"It's good we are back at the top. We have one more point with a game in hand on United and two points more than Arsenal.

"That's important because on Sunday United play Arsenal. Maybe we can improve our position on Saturday."

Birmingham boss Alex McLeish:
"I don't think anyone has won here this season and they have battered better teams than us.

"I'm not disappointed with the players at all. They deserve tremendous credit for the run they have been on and they have the character to bounce back.

"Chelsea are a good side. They have the foreign flavour, the keep-ball and movement is excellent. They are one of the favourites for the Champions League, let alone the Premier League.

"We have kept the ball better than that and were wasteful in possession, but I'll forgive the players this one. There's no disgrace losing here."

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Prematch Review : Chelsea vs Birmingham City

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Chelsea will have to put on a high class performance against an inform Birmingham City to stay in the title hunt and claim their first spot in table. Chelsea has the best side in premier league till now , but as of now they are third in the league tables due to the less number of matches they played compared to Man U and Arsenal who posses the first and second places.
Chelsea has a mental edge as they have thrashed Sunderland 7-2 in the last home match and have won 10 out of 11 home matches this season. More over their star player Drogba has been back to side after African Nations Cup. While Birmingham City is in best of their form for last few weeks. They haven't lost a single game in last 15 matches. So Chelsea can expect a real hard time to overcome them.

A win is necessary for Chelsea who are yet to claim a EPL cup after Mourinho has left the club in 2006. So far this season they have shown real character under the new coach Ancelotti and having two games in hand compared to Man U , the blues can't imagine anything other than a win here at Stamford bridge.

Key Players
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** Anelka
As Drogba will not be playing the match , the main hitman for Chelsea will be the inform French striker Anelka. He has been in the best of his form through out the season and has netted 11 times till now. Chelsea expect a few of them from him in this match also.

** Joe Hart
The English shot stopper has been in good form this season. He has to maintain it if Birmingham City wants to put some pressure on The Blues.

Chelsea on contract renewal talks with Anelka

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Chelsea has been linked quite some time in contract renewal talks with Anelka , the inform French hit man. Chelsea may even face to lose him if they don't fail to reach a consensus very fast as his contract ends in 18 months time.
Nicolas Anelka has been in great form this season and has been a major ingredient of new manager Ancelotti's diamond configuration. Paired with Drogba , he made 11 goals and many more assists till now. Chelsea won't be looking forward to losing the inform striker. Anelka has played for many big guns of Europe like Madrid , Arsenal and Liverpool etc. But after reaching Chelsea last season , he has been like being at his favourite home.
Chelsea is trying very hard to extend the contract and to fix the strikers post a permeanant one. If they don't succeed , they may have to start searching for a better replacement for Anelka which is very hard to get.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Chelsea "Kill" Sunderland ( Chelsea 7-2 Sunderland )

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It was Chelsea at their best... The best performance in this season so far. And what a great way to begin 2010 in Premier league.

Though Chelsea was under a lot of criticism following sloppy performance during the last weeks of 2009 , they came back really strong in 2010 and proved some point for sure. Even in the absence of their best hit man Drogba , and mid field mastero Essien ; Chelsea didn't show any signs of a weakend sign. They proved to be good enough for the title " best Club " in England.
It was Nicolas Anelka who has been out for few matches due to injury started the goal rain in 8th minute with a beautiful volley past the goal keeper.Then literally it was raining in stamfordbridge. Chelsea attacked with heart producing 4-0 lead at the half time vistle with Malouda ( 17 ) , Ashley Cole ( 22 ) and Lampard ( 34 ) netting the ball.
At half time Chelsea brought on two substitues Alex for Terry and Zirkov for Cole. Chelsea started off from where they paused at half time. It was Ballack ( 52 )this time with a superb header . Later Anelka ( 65 ) and Lampard ( 90 )scored one each to claim four goals between them each scoring a twin.

Sunderland did returned two goals one in 56th minute by Zenden and the next by Bent on 92nd minute. Both the goals were from Chelsea's sloppy play in set peice defending. Ancelotti's boys defenitely have to work and sort out this problem if they want to kiss some silverwares this season.

Ancelotti appeared very happy with his team's performance and this is what he said in a post match interview ,

" We have just given maybe our best performance of the season. This is how we should continue to play from now until the end of the campaign.

"I took John Terry and Ashley Cole off at half time because John had a problem with his back, while Ashley took a knock on his ankle. But it was just a precaution.

"As for Ashley's goal - it was fantastic. Fantastic movement, and a fantastic pass from John Terry."