Re: Pre Match Thread: Chelsea vs. Man City
I am positive we can beat Chelsea and here are a few reasons why.
- A team is always better when it has something special to aspire to. Mourinho was talking about winning the quadruple and now that they dont have that to aim for they might lose a bit of their motivation.
- Stamford Bridge has been a fortress this season BUT... It was the same at the Etihad last season, we were winning every game comfortably until Chelsea beat us and suddenly we lost our confidence at home. The home defeat in the FA Cup could have the same effect on Chelsea as the feeling of invincibility will no longer be there.
- Chelsea have a tough midweek game against Liverpool. They will put out their strongest team and play at their maximum. They will have less time to recover than City and less time on the training ground to prepare for the game. It's also worth remembering the Liverpool game could go to extra time which could lead to fatigue induced injuries. On the other hand we have all week to prepare for the game and no risk of injury unless Vinny takes someone out in training.
- Terry & Cahill aren't all that. Kane terrorized them in the 5-3 at White Hart Lane and Sterling went past them like they weren't even there in the league cup. Imagine what Aguero could do to them.
- We actually play better away from home. I dont know if its the lack of support at the Etihad or the fact that we find it hard to break down teams that put 11 men behind the ball but we seem to be able to cut teams open easier away from home.
- Yaya Touré being out could actually be a good thing. We will be forced to play on the counter attack like we did against Roma and Fernando and Fernandinho proved in that game that they were capable of stopping attacks and putting us on the counter. Whereas if Yaya was playing, his lack of defensive work could leave a massive hole in our midfield.
- Aguero looked like he was back to match fitness against Boro. Although he didn't score, Sergio looked a lot sharper and was dribbling past players with ease like he was before the injury and with another week in training he should be at 100% for the Chelsea game.
- We have winners throughout our team. Zaba, Vinny, Merlin, Kun to name a few. There is no way they will let themselves lose 3 games in a row so I expect a backlash.
- Pellegrini is due a bit of luck against Mourinho. A Hart/Nastasic mixup lost us the game last season but we dominated them for most of the game. The game at Etihad this season was one of our best performances IMO but Zaba's red card made it easier for them to pick us off on the counter and to be fair evern with 10 men we were the better team and looked the more likely to get the winner. Wouldn't it be great if Pellegrini could finally get a much deserved win against Moaninho, crowd surf when we get the winner and then disrespectfully shake his hand 5 minutes before the end.
My team Vs Chelsea
Hart
Zabaleta - Kompany - Mangala - Clichy
Fernandinho - Fernando
Navas - Silva - Jovetic
Aguero
Chelsea 1 - 2 City
(Hazard) (Silva, Aguero)
C'mon City!
