Match Preview: Chelsea FC vs Cardiff City FC

Chelsea return to action in Premier League against the Bluebirds as the players look to carry on from where they left off before the international break.
DATE & TIME: October 19, 2013 at 10:30 EDT; October 19, 2013 at 14:00 GMT; October 19, 2013 at 15:00 BST; October 19, 2013 at 15:00 WAT; October 19, 2013 at 16:00 CAT; October 19, 2013 at 17:00 EAT; October 19, 2013 at 19:30 IST.
VENUE: Stamford Bridge, London, United Kingdom.
TV/STREAMING NEWS: Chelsea TV will stream the game live. The match will be telecast live on Fox Sports 1 in Australia, Al Jazeera Sport HD 1 in African sub-continent, Sportsnet Ontario/East/West/Pacific in Canada, Al Jazeera Sport HD1 in Egypt, ESPN HD in India, Al Jazeera Sport HD1 in UAE, Absolute Radio in UK and NBC Sports Live Extra in USA.
CHELSEA FC SQUAD NEWS: Fernando Torres is fit and available for selection. Ashley Cole misses out due to rib injury, which might also keep him out of the Schalke game. Andre Schuerrle is unavailable because of a leg muscle strain.
Predicted Starting XI: Cech, Ivanovic, Luiz, Terry, Bertrand, Ramires, Lampard, Mata, Oscar, Hazard, Torres.
CARDIFF CITY FC SQUAD NEWS: Andreas Cornelius is the only doubt for tomorrow’s game.
Predicted Starting XI: Marshall, Theophile-Catherine, Caulker, Turner, Taylor, Medel, Gunnarsson, Odemwingie, Bo-Kyung, Whittingham, Campbell.
REFEREE: Anthony Taylor.
TACTICAL OVERVIEW: Cardiff play a standard 4-2-3-1(similar to Chelsea) but while defending, form two banks of four interspersed by a man in the middle. The two wide men have a tendency to cut in & increase the numbers in the middle of the park while attacking, so Chelsea need to increase the bodies in the middle in order to shut out any threat. Take a look at the detailed analysis of Cardiff’s gameplay by fellow CFC360 author Sherry to completely understand the finer nuances of the tactics deployed by Malky Mackay.
FORM INDEX: Chelsea – WDLWDW; Cardiff – WDDLWL
FUN TRIVIA:

• Chelsea have won 10 of their last 11 home matches in the Premier League.
• Petr Cech will make his 300th PL appearance tomorrow.
• Fernando Torres, if selected, will make his 100th start for Chelsea.
• Cardiff have committed the fewest fouls in the Premier League this season.
• Chelsea have won 58 and lost just 3 out of the last 74 PL games against newly promoted teams in the last twelve & a half seasons.
• Cardiff have registered the fewest shots on target(17) of all Premier League teams this season.
• Jose Mourinho is unbeaten in 63 Premier League home games.

IN A NUTSHELL: Chelsea need to win against Cardiff to keep up with Arsenal & Liverpool at the top of the table, who have relatively easy fixtures. Cardiff have won against Manchester City and Fulham, while dropping points against Tottenham only to a last minute goal. Therefore, the Blues need to be at the very top of their game.