Skoorb
Alert Team
Well, here we are.
After City blew the chance on Sunday to take a meaningful step towards cementing their place in the top four, Pep and his profligate charges travel across the capital to take on the 'runaway league leaders' (TM the media), presumptive 2016/18 Premier League Champions. A tough enough task given the imperious and unperturbed progress that Antonio Conte's men have been forging so far but now clouded by our opponents will respond to their surprising defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace at the weekend.
Battle hardened 'invincibles' in whom a seed of doubt has been sown.......or players whose wounded pride will send them out looking to lash out at their next opponents?
Prior to Saturday's turnover, the Chelsea players hadn't tasted defeat at home since they lost to Liverpool in mid-September. They had won thirteen consecutive matches in all competitions and conceded only six goals in the process. A formidable home record, one which they can justifiably be proud of and which will probably allow them to mentally pass off the Palace defeat as an aberration, one of those freak results which they can put right when they defeat their next opponents. Because make no bones about it, if Wednesday's encounter didn't already have an edge to it after the events at the Etihad back in December, then the ante has just been raised. Their 'insurmountable' ten point lead has been cut to seven, there are nine games to play and suddenly the cushion isn't quite as comfortable. It's not called 'squeaky bum time' for nothing & they may recall how their next opponents caught the rags from further back with six games to go a few short seasons ago........
Doubtless Conte will be pleased that their next game is so close and is against a team that they will regard as a threat - he will be pleased that his players won't have a whole week to stew over their failure last weekend. But he may not be able to squeeze out all the seeds of doubt that that defeat may have sown..........
We can only hope.
For City, the retreat into their shell after conceding a second equaliser was disappointing to say the least. Of course things might have been different had Andre Marriner seen fit to award a penalty for handball against Monreal in the dying embers of the match but given our track record with officials this season, none of us were surprised that he chose to regard the contact as 'accidental'. City might consider themselves unlucky having twice struck the post against Arsenal but the fact remains that we once again utterly failed to kill off a side once we had secured a lead and as a result two more points slipped away.......
Wednesday's game was big enough anyway but now Chelsea will want to 'get back on track' or 'show a reaction' and regain their breathing space ahead of Spurs so I expect they will come out fired up and ready to get at our defence. The one good piece of news is that it seems Victor Moses, probably the most improved player in the Premier League this season :005: , is a major doubt so I would expect Pedro to take his place. City will be missing Sagna so that at least means one less option to guess who might be picked at right back given Navas's surprise inclusion in that role on Sunday. Doubtless Diego Costa will once again fancy taking on Stones and Otamendi so we have to hope that they have both learnt from their previous experiences. The forward and attacking midfield lines will select themselves.......it's between them and Caballero that the lack of any settled selection gives us the heebie-jeebies. One could argue that if the chances created were taken then the dynamic might be oh so different. Most City fans agree that major surgery is required in the squad and there are predictions of some big changes at the season's end. Pep did say to make sure our seat belts were fastened......
However putting form and all else aside this is one of those games where we are owed a performance and a result (Leicester is the other one on my radar) and I am hoping that the players can make it a night to remember and perhaps really throw the cat amongst the pigeons in the race for the title!
Come on City!!!
After City blew the chance on Sunday to take a meaningful step towards cementing their place in the top four, Pep and his profligate charges travel across the capital to take on the 'runaway league leaders' (TM the media), presumptive 2016/18 Premier League Champions. A tough enough task given the imperious and unperturbed progress that Antonio Conte's men have been forging so far but now clouded by our opponents will respond to their surprising defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace at the weekend.
Battle hardened 'invincibles' in whom a seed of doubt has been sown.......or players whose wounded pride will send them out looking to lash out at their next opponents?
Prior to Saturday's turnover, the Chelsea players hadn't tasted defeat at home since they lost to Liverpool in mid-September. They had won thirteen consecutive matches in all competitions and conceded only six goals in the process. A formidable home record, one which they can justifiably be proud of and which will probably allow them to mentally pass off the Palace defeat as an aberration, one of those freak results which they can put right when they defeat their next opponents. Because make no bones about it, if Wednesday's encounter didn't already have an edge to it after the events at the Etihad back in December, then the ante has just been raised. Their 'insurmountable' ten point lead has been cut to seven, there are nine games to play and suddenly the cushion isn't quite as comfortable. It's not called 'squeaky bum time' for nothing & they may recall how their next opponents caught the rags from further back with six games to go a few short seasons ago........
Doubtless Conte will be pleased that their next game is so close and is against a team that they will regard as a threat - he will be pleased that his players won't have a whole week to stew over their failure last weekend. But he may not be able to squeeze out all the seeds of doubt that that defeat may have sown..........
We can only hope.
For City, the retreat into their shell after conceding a second equaliser was disappointing to say the least. Of course things might have been different had Andre Marriner seen fit to award a penalty for handball against Monreal in the dying embers of the match but given our track record with officials this season, none of us were surprised that he chose to regard the contact as 'accidental'. City might consider themselves unlucky having twice struck the post against Arsenal but the fact remains that we once again utterly failed to kill off a side once we had secured a lead and as a result two more points slipped away.......
Wednesday's game was big enough anyway but now Chelsea will want to 'get back on track' or 'show a reaction' and regain their breathing space ahead of Spurs so I expect they will come out fired up and ready to get at our defence. The one good piece of news is that it seems Victor Moses, probably the most improved player in the Premier League this season :005: , is a major doubt so I would expect Pedro to take his place. City will be missing Sagna so that at least means one less option to guess who might be picked at right back given Navas's surprise inclusion in that role on Sunday. Doubtless Diego Costa will once again fancy taking on Stones and Otamendi so we have to hope that they have both learnt from their previous experiences. The forward and attacking midfield lines will select themselves.......it's between them and Caballero that the lack of any settled selection gives us the heebie-jeebies. One could argue that if the chances created were taken then the dynamic might be oh so different. Most City fans agree that major surgery is required in the squad and there are predictions of some big changes at the season's end. Pep did say to make sure our seat belts were fastened......
However putting form and all else aside this is one of those games where we are owed a performance and a result (Leicester is the other one on my radar) and I am hoping that the players can make it a night to remember and perhaps really throw the cat amongst the pigeons in the race for the title!
Come on City!!!
