Premier League

First Step On Road To Recovery

January 16, 2011
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Ivanovic and Anelka returned to haunt Blackburn Rovers again as Chelsea returned to winning ways with a rather nervous 2-0 win over Blackburn Rover at Stamford Bridge. Branislav Ivanovic got his fifth goal of the season to put Chelsea ahead, before Nicloas Anelka made it three goals in two for him to ensure three points for Carlo Ancelotti’s side. Given Carlo Ancelotti’s pre-match comments about Josh McEachran being ready to…

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The Harding Perspective: Blackburn

January 15, 2011
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I should state that first of all I am not entirely sure as to what formation Blackburn are likely to opt for, but I expect the personnel to be similar to the team below. Pedersen perhaps tucked in with Olsson operating from a slightly wider berth. I expect the tactic to be similar to the one they employed against Liverpool with a lot of success: pace, pace and some more…

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A Statistical Preview: Blackburn Rovers

January 14, 2011
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CHELSEA vs BLACKBURN ROVERS 15/01/11 Chelsea meet Blackburn Rovers at the Bridge as they get back to the Premier League after an emphatic 7-0 demolition of Ipswich Town. Daniel Sturridge is the man of the moment having scored 7 goals in 2 games, 5 coming in the reserves in a 7-3 win over rivals Spurs. Daniel recorded a 31.0% accuracy rate (shots on target of total shots) and averaged 0.714…

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Away With The Wolves

January 5, 2011
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What would have been classed as a simple match some three months ago, takes on an entirely different look as our woeful form leaves us ripe for the picking. We’ve seen many ‘signs’ that improvement is only around the corner, spells in matches where it’s clicked again and we’re playing as we can, these are all too rare however, and teams are playing us with their tails up. Wolves will…

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Late Goal Deflates Chelsea Comeback

January 3, 2011
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When we see Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and John Terry on the score sheet, usually this is the cue of a big win, but sadly the usual isn’t the case at Stamford Bridge at the moment, as Chelsea were held to a 3-3 draw against the visiting Aston Villa side. Both teams went into the game not in the best of forms and it will be fair to say that…

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The Harding Perspective: Aston Villa

January 1, 2011
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ASTON VILLA (H) 02/01/11 Expected Team: Friedel remains one of the more consistent Goalkeeper’s in the Premier League and will present a significant obstacle for Chelsea to overcome. Rarely found wanting, he is decent on crosses and a good shot stopper. His issue remains the amount of times he is tested during a game; Aston Villa tend to allow several clear-cut chances during a game, an indicative symbol of their…

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…And Breathe

December 30, 2010
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Ask any set of Chelsea fans and they will tell you that past few weeks have been very hard for the club. And after that demoralising defeat at Arsenal just 48 hours ago, it was important that we got all three points over the in-form Bolton Wanderers, thankfully that’s what we got as we returned to winning ways with a 1-0 win. With only a day’s rest between games it…

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The Definition Of A Must-Win Game

December 29, 2010
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It might be slightly premature to make such claims about a match, but as Bolton visit Stamford Bridge tonight, one thing is clear. As the Premier League season reaches the midway mark, Chelsea’s 19th fixture of the campaign carries more significance and importance than any which has gone before it. Sure, there have been tougher opponents, but with 2010 drawing to an end, Carlo Ancelotti and company must draw on…

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Gooners Pile On The Misery

December 28, 2010
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Sometimes you just have to accept the fact that you weren’t good enough and it was one of those days for the Blues at the Emirates. Chelsea have had some big results against Arsenal over the years and were expected to get the result again despite being on a terrible run for the past month, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be the case, as some horrible mistakes in quick succession…

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Arsenal – What Went Wrong?

December 28, 2010
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OK, so it’s not necessarily just the Arsenal defeat where things have gone wrong recently. One win since mid November – and that merely a late one in a below-par outing against MSK Zilina – has left Blues fans reeling at the club’s worst run of form for over a decade, and has left a number of questions in need of an answer. Is it an issue with squad depth?…

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