Chelsea will face Michael Laudrup’s struggling Swans on Boxing Day after playing out a draw against Arsenal at Emirates. The clean sheet came as a boon for Petr Cech & the Chelsea defense and Jose Mourinho was relatively pleased with Chelsea’s efforts against the London rivals.
The Premier League standings have been at a logjam with just 2 points separating the top 5 clubs. Each & every point is crucial, not just for the title race but also to secure a top 4 position.
Swansea have been far from convincing on road this season, taking just 9 points of 8 matches. Chelsea will look to keep up their home form when the Welsh side comes visiting.
DATE & TIME: December 26, 2013 at 10:00 EST; December 26, 2013 at 15:00 GMT; December 26, 2013 at 16:00 WAT; December 26, 2013 at 17:00 CAT; December 26, 2013 at 18:00 EAT; December 26, 2013 at 20:30 IST.
VENUE: Stamford Bridge, London, United Kingdom.
TV/STREAMING NEWS: The match will be telecast live on Fox Sports 3 on Australia, Supersport 5/HD5 Africa in African sub-continent, Sportsnet TSN2 in Canada, Star Sports 4 in India, Fox Sports Plus HD Italia in Italy, Fox Sports Plus HD in Malaysia, Fox Sports 2 in Netherlands, C+ Liga de Campeones, Canal+ Futbol HD & Gol Stadium in Spain, Al Jazeera Sport +2 in UAE, BBC One in United Kingdom and NBC Sports Network in USA.
The match is available online on Aljazeerasport.tv in Middle East, Fox Soccer Go in Netherlands and NBC Sports Live Extra in USA.
Chelsea TV will have live audio of the game.
You can also catch the game on TalkSport Radio if you’re in Canada or US.
CHELSEA FC SQUAD NEWS: Chelsea have a clean bill of health except for Marco van Ginkel who is not expected to return sometime soon and Ryan Bertrand who is yet to recover from his injury.
Predicted Starting XI: Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Luiz, Azpilicueta, Ramires, Essien, Mata, Oscar, Hazard, Eto’o.
SWANSEA CITY AFC SQUAD NEWS: Swans will miss Gary Monk, Michel Vorm, Michu, Nathan Dyer and Álvaro through injury. Michu is expected to undergo ankle surgery and hence a lengthy lay-off. Angel Rangel will be back from suspension though.
Predicted Starting XI: Tremmel, Rangel, Chicho, Williams, Davies, Canas, Guzmán, Hernández, Shelvey, Routledge, Bony.
REFEREE: Michael Jones.
FORM INDEX: Chelsea – WWWLWD; Swansea – WLWDDL.
FUN TRIVIA:
- Chelsea are undefeated in last 17 home matches in Premier League.
- Chelsea are unbeaten in their last 4 league meetings with Swansea.
- Swansea have won only 2 of their last 13 meetings with Chelsea in all competitions.
- Chelsea have scored at least 2 goals in their last 13 home matches in the Premier League.
Chelsea must get a result at home against Swansea in order to keep up at the top of the table and consolidate their position before facing the current leaders Liverpool on Sunday at Stamford Bridge.
i predict 2-0 in favour of cfc.happy xmas & new year.
Let me remind all of you of our first 17 EPL games in 2012
*Wig 0 – Che 2 : Hazard masterclass, 2 assists to his name.
*Che 4 – Reading 2 : We gave them a lesson in counterattacking.
*Che 2 – Newcastle 0 : who remembers Hazard’s backheel assist for El Nino’s 2nd goal in 3 games.
*QPR 0 – Che 0: We cudnt beat them.
*Che 1 – Stoke 0 : They parked the bus we found a way through. Cole the man.
*Ars 1 – Che 2 : Mata Magic begins, Torres got his 3rd EPL goal
*Che 4 – Nor 1 : Holt scored first, we replied with 4.
* Spurs 2 – Che 4 : Mata magic continues.
* Che 2 – Man U 3 : we came back from the dead, mostly likely winners, a dubious red to El Nino and an offside goal gave Man U the victory.
*Swa 1 – Che 1: Moses gave the breakthrough, Pablo stole it away in the closing stages.
*Che 1 – Liv 1 : We outplayed Liverpool, missed a host of chances. Suarez scores the equaliser by pushing Ramires in the box.
*West B 2 – Che 1: Only EPL loss for the Only Di Matteo in dis season. Never had a chance to continue.
In comes Rafa- we all didn’t like him
*Che 0- Man City 0: Boring game
*Che 0 – Fulham 0 : Rafa’s still looking for his 1st 11
* West H 3 – Che 1 : we were thought a footballing lesson in d second half.
*Sunderland 1 – Chelsea 3: EL nino awakens grabs 2 goals.
*Che 8 – Aston 0: el nino strikes again, we thrashed them sore with lovely football.
Well done ariclte that. I’ll make sure to use it wisely.
Let’s go through this year’s first 17 games in the EPL.
*Che 2 – Hull 0: Played our best football in the league in the first 20 mins, 2 goals to show with incisive and through passes everywhere.
*Che 2 – Aston 1: Did we rob them? Terry Pk? We didn’t play really well- we grinded out the result.
* Man U 0 – Che 0 : A snorefest. Only Rooney was on the pitch.
*Eve 1 – Che 0 : Suddenly we can’t score, how could we- Eto’o was leading the lines- he was in the club barely a week.
*Che 2 – Ful 0 : We harried and struggled to break them down. Mikel’s goal was the only high points after Oscar’s opener.
*Spurs 1 – Che 1: We shd v been whitewashed in the first half, in comes Mata. He worked his magic for a deserve equaliser by Terry. Schurrle missed our winner, one on one, can’t score.
*Nor 1 – Che 3 : We struggled yet again. Hazard and Willian came on to win us the game.
*Che 4 – Car 1: Behind early, fought back with 2 Eto’o goals in the mix.
*Che 2 – Man C 1: El Nino strikes the winner. One of our better performance. I was pleased.
*West H 0 – Che 3 : The hammers just rolled over, to easy for us. Lamps 2 goals.
*Che 3 – Sou 1: Fought back with Cahill and Terry scoring.
*Sund 3 – Che 4 : A night of defensive mishap- Hazard was on fire though.
*Stoke 3 – Che 2 : Schurrle on fire, Mourinho on ice – wrong subs
*Che 2 – Cry 1: We struggled to beat a relegation battler- No wonder we parked the bus against better opposition.
*Arsenal 0 – Chelsea 0: What shd I say- Boring as ever. This match says it all.
What is there to be satisfied about?
Wot re u insinuating? U dis bitch. Do u want to sack d coach? Where are we in d league then? Compare our position to last season u fool glory hunter. U should be ban frm dis site. Are u d only fan here? Ur been obsessed and negativity against our coach say it all. I dont realy think ure cfc fan, cos if u re, u ll nt even talk shit. Haha! Y cant u leave mou alone for dis season and watch. He hs nt even spent 6 month. U must be a kid dat knws notin. Go and kil ur self
First of all, you are angry because I am right.
Secondly, how can I possibly get Jose sacked from here.
Thirdly, you are the kid. You are abusive without making any point.
Fourthly, you are obessesed with Jose. Grow up- when next you call someone a bitch put a name to it.
Ure still a cunt. Am 29 yrs of age. Am not a kid. If u dont want jose to be sacked, y creating hatred to him? Am nt obsessed with mou, all i care for is cfc progress. And we re cos we re still title contender at this point in time. We re better than man utd right now. Am angry bcos of ur thoughts. It too weird
Down bitch! Meeow!
@zyte hoping the best for our team!!! Let’s see our performance step by step!!! I would like see a Colombian player playing in our team!!!
CHELSEA 🙂
that will be nice,but let it be falcao cos we need a striker more than a midfielder.guarin is good also,but i prefer xabi alonso cos he is a deep lying passer which we dont have now at cfc.happy xmas & trophy laden new year 2 all cfc fans & board.
We don’t need an established player like Alonso. Let us find a new gem for the future with longevity and no baggage from previous clubs like Liverpool and Real Madrid. We tried that before with Deschamps, Deco and Ballack. They didn’t exactly pull up any trees.
To all those that think Mourinho has done a wonderful job, I have some stats for you. The only reason while we are still close to the top is because the lesser lights of the EPL have taken off points from the major contenders so far this season.
Results as @ Dec 23 in 2012
Played- 17
Won- 9
Draw- 5
Lost- 3
GF- 36
GA- 17
Points- 32pts
Position- 4th
Results as @ 23rd, 2013
Played- 17
Won- 10
Draw- 4
Loss- 3
GF- 32
GA- 18
Points- 34pts
Position- 4th
Mou’s Chelsea is just 2 points better than last season’s sexy Chelsea, conceding a goal more and scoring 4 goals less. Stop fooling each other, we are not improving, we are declining.
Only Close to the top due to the failings of the teams above us.
We are out of the Capital One Cup in the quaterfinal stage, we made it to the semis last season.
U would say we progressed in the UCL, we progressed with a points total of 12pts, we lost out last season with 10 points that’s enough to clinch second spot on a good day but guess what we had better teams vying for the 2 spots, Juventus and Shakthar. Mind you we didn’t get beat home and away. We had a easy group with the likes of Basel and Schakle.
Is Mourinho improving the team? I think we are declining, my honest submission.
If we hadn’t robbed West Brom @ the bridge with that dubious pk, we would v had the same points total of 32, with lesser goals scored and more conceded. Numbers don’t lie.
To the bitchy anonymous, cool down. We all can’t see everything from the same direction.
So what can we do now? I want u to sugest a solution to this. How can a normal man compare this season to last season. There re lots of contenders dis season, a lots of new players and coaches coming in. Ure too dumb to realise epl is unpredictable, hull beat man city and aston villa beat arsenal dis season. Are u a fool. Wot else do u want? If u want sexy football, y cant u go and join barca. Who is obsessed wit mou, answer dis question : are u not happy when roman re hired mou? If ure not dat mean ure a farca fan. Wot is wrong wit u. U wrote a stupid stat and u fail to notice wot matters is the fact dat we re among contenders. D title had been lost dis time around last season you over-ambitious brat. I hate seen ur comment, ure a disgrace to my belove country. Why re u doing dis? If u have notin gud to type, y cant u just read and go. Which state re u frm in nigeria? I wish i could see u and talk sense to ur head. Tell me ur address and i ll com to u, i dont care. U should stop dis. U keep saying negative thing about cfc, who cares about ur opinion. We ve two home game, in which personally i think we can win and possibly top the league. Instead of u to be tinkin like this, ure sayin rubish, comparing last season to dis season. Do u think dis is la liga? Do u even ve a life? Get lost
Only close to the top because of other tams failings? That’s why a poor team like United romped away with the title last season. It is a tougher competition this season, the lesser teams have built well. The team that comes out of this pack of 5 or 6 teams to take the title will merit their status as champions
@socrates. Dats wot i was saying, just dat i was overreacting. Abayomi was comparing last season’s team in epl to dis season. No small team right now, any so called big team is beatable. Being a title contender is wot matters. Everybody is entitle to his or her opinion no doubt but seen some comments atimes might be so irritating, we re all human. I ve been following abayomi’s comment through out dis season, i hardly see a positive influence. Everything is about how mou is not improving our team. Y cant he wait and see. Am sure he doesnt knw more than mou. We re praying for things to be going the way we want. Am not soliciting for mou but he is not that bad, he hasnt done something wrong recently. Is it not to early to judge him? He is building a team dat ll surely dominate.
lets be more matured & disciplined.how can u abuse neri like that?@ neri u did well 4 not cursing back.pls this is cfc site lets respect one anothers opinion & criticise constructively & politely not with abusive words.God bless u all.wish u all happy xmas & a trophy laden year 2 al cfc fans,staff & board.
@zyte. Abayomi get what he wanted. He has insulted me times without number in this site. We should all be calm. I can see anonymous is very angry wit neri’s negativity all the time. It all show we re a loyal fans. Merry xmas to u too. Ve fun
@ Cfc did I call u a bitch or a cunt?
Nice comments Zyte, uve said it all. Merry Xmas and a blissful New year.
@ martin tank u.keep flying the blue flag high..
HV U ALL SEEN DAT ABAYOMI IS DISGRACING NIGERIANS?, HE IS SUCH A KID WHO CNT THINK ABOUT ANYTING ELSE THAN SACK THE COACH.WE HV SOO MANY COUNTRIES HERE AT THIS SITE, INFACT SOM SENSIBLE NIGERIANS ARE HERE TOO BUH THIS GUY, SOMTIN IS WRONG WID HIM. ALL HE KNWS ABOUT FOOTBALL IS SACK THE COACH ND SUPPORTING MIKEL.DATZ ALL HE KNOWS, SUCH A FOOL I HV NEVA SEEN B4. NIGERIANS HE IS DIGRACING UR FOOTBALL COUNTRY.
Still, like you he is entitled to his opinion. Stop acting like the Stasi and grassing him up and trying to get others ganging on him. We can all read and make our own opinion on his comments. Thank you very much.
my Lineup 4 de game today
CECH
AZPILICUETA,Ivanovic has been playing there non-stop so I feel he deserves a rest and Dave deserves a start at RB.
TERRY,Solid vs Arsenal.
CAHILL,also solid vs Arsenal.
COLE,won’t hurt to give him a start.
LAMPS,impressive showing vs Arsenal.
LUIZ OR MIKEL,Luiz deserves a start in the position where he is immense.Mikel put in a good performance vs Arsenal.
HAZARD,one of the most exciting players in the league with the ball.
MATA,he’s Mata,what else matters?
OSCAR,completing the scincillating trio of MAZACAR.
SCHURRLE,we know Schurrle can finish well and we know that he can play as a striker so why not give him a chance there?
I agree with Schurrle bin given a chance in CF role.
Pleas if you er not chelsea fans dont comment if you er pleas take it cool football is not a war so let us be more matured football is all about win lose or draw my people dont let us fight in chelsea we trust united we stand divided we fall chelsea 4 life merry x mas nd happy new year in advance fr ola ghana
i will mis the match b/cos of a meeting that clashed with the match.pls i wil like 2 read the teams highs & lows from u guys after the match.emilo 10,martin,cfc obsessed,socrates,fidel + others u guys are great analysts.i enjoy reading ur posts.happy xmas & trophy laden 2014.
@ Admin: Can’t I make my opinions known without people calling me a bitch or cunt or stupid.
Must you be abusive.
Must I see everything, the way @ Cfc obessesed, gabby and emile 10 sees it.
@ cfc I never abused u b4, we might disagree but I hell don’t absue u.
On calling me a disgrace to a nation by some from my nationality says a lot about the person saying such.
I v never mentioned I wanted Jose sacked, just pointing out his flaws n comparing his team n the team of coaches sacked who didn’t get a lot of chance to show what they are made of.
@Abayomi, Am so sorry to abuse u. I was angry dats y. Accept my apology once again. We re brothers, i ll never say such again. Am sorry
Are you crazy??? Did you see how is table this year?? Are you thinking that Liverpool, arsenal, Everton, Southampton, Newcastle, city, United are the same like the last year!!!
I hate people who wants to change the coach every day!!!
This is a process and we have yo wait Mou isn’t prefect but he loves our time and he really wants to improve our performance!!! Let’s see our performance step by step!!!
Hopping to see schurrle playing like a false 9 and David Luiz for Mikel!!! Cdm!!!
Come on CHELSEA!!!
@abayomi we are nt say hes(mou) perfect no, but we wnt u to critisize constructively, do it in such a way dat u support the team or the coach somtin is wrong nd u wnt it fixed, all ur statements shows clearly that u hate mou, he is here to destroy us but truely he is one of us and will try all his hrt out to put us were we wnt, but there will still be ups nd downs jax get this.mery christmass yall.
One love 2 all chelsea fans all over the world nd merry x mas nd happy new year in advance
There’s one thing i will never subscribe to at all.That is saying someone is a disgrace to Nigeria!Abayomi is entitled to any comments he made!@Gabby watch whatever utterances that is coming to ur mouth about Nigeria!We don’t even know ur own country of origin!
am happy 4 neri & anonymous.thats how it should be.u see,the differenc in our opinion makes us unique & strong.2geda we stand firm & the bridge wil remain our fortress come sunday cos lpool will walk alone……