Chelsea vs Fulham
28 November 2012
1945 Hrs GMT [ Time Converter ]
Stamford Bridge
English Premier League
Chelsea Injury News
Frank Lampard, John Terry and Daniel Sturridge are still unavailable.
Chelsea Starting XI
There have been rumours about Romeu replacing Mikel in the midfield. A reason being given is that, Chelsea need to start their attacks from the pivot. Now, am not entirely sure that Romeu is capable of orchestrating attacks from the pivot. I haven’t seen enough of Romeu to be convinced of that. I still rate Mikel over Romeu as far as attacks are concerned. However, Romeu is a better Defensive Midfielder than Mikel. That is not surprising considering the fact that Mikel started off as a young promising playmaker while Romeu started off as a Center Back.
It was reported that, Cahill was scheduled to start the last match versus City. However, an illness kept him on the bench. Cahill is fit now. Although, it will be harsh to drop any one of Azpi, Iva or Luiz. They all performed well enough in the last outing.
As a result, based on the previous match performance, I’ve gone with Cole – Luiz – Ivanovic – Azpilicueta in the defence.
Double pivot should see Romeu partner Ramires, if the rumours are to be believed.
Third band – too early to drop any one of Hazard – Oscar – Mata. A player could be rested. However, it is only Benitez’ second match in charge and starting a new player in the third band would mean training them differently. Chelsea only had 2 days between the Manchester City match and Fulham match. There is a likelihood Moses could start, but who can we drop ?
Sturridge is still out injured. So starting Fernando Torres is not a difficult choice.
Side Note
Chelsea – Fulham clashes have something to it. It is a London derby. Dempsey has moved on to Spurs. Luckily he won’t be around to trouble Chelsea. Martin Jol could look to exploit Chelsea’ unsettled defence. Berbatov could be stationed in between Chelsea’ back four and the double pivot. He may lack pace, but is still lethal.
3 points and nothing less is the absolute minimum for Chelsea in this game.
If Chelsea can win and play some fluid football, it will be a welcome change for the fans. It could help take the focus away from the off field antics and bring the focus back on football.
Good football is what the fans want. Not politics. Politics can be found elsewhere.
Resources
Chelsea vs Fulham Pre-Match Briefing Part 1, Chelseafc.com
Chelsea vs Fulham Pre-Match Briefing Part 2, Chelseafc.com
Comments on: "Chelsea Starting XI, probable, vs Fulham" (2)
if i were the manager i would have played.
Iva, Luiz, Cahill, Cole
Romeu, Oscar
Moses, Mata, Hazard
Torres
subs – Ramirez instead of Romeu, Bertrand instead of Moses shifting hazard on the right.
Benitez need not to drop mikel,it will be a very big mistake.