Chelsea are yet to win away in the league this season, with draws against Manchester United & Spurs, and a loss at Goodison Park. The Blues will look to change it today as they face Norwich on the last of their four trips on the road, before going into the international break. Without much ado, lets jump on all the information we need before the match.
DATE & TIME: October 6, 2013 at 08:30 EDT; October 6, 2013 at 12:30 GMT; October 6, 2013 at 13:30 BST; October 6, 2013 at 13:30 WAT; October 6, 2013 at 14:30 CAT; October 6, 2013 at 15:30 EAT; October 6, 2013 at 18:00 IST.
VENUE: Carrow Road, Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom.
TV/STREAMING NEWS: Chelsea TV will stream the game live. The match will be telecast live on Fox Sports 1 in Australia, Sky Sports 1 in Austria, SuperSport 3 Africa in African sub-continent, TSN in Canada, Al Jazeera Sport HD1/HD6 in Egypt, Sky Sport 1 in Germany, ESPN India & ESPN HD in India, Fox Sports HD in Italy, J Sports 2 in Japan, Canal+ Futbol/Gol Stadium/GOL T in Spain, Al Jazeera Sport HD1/HD6 in UAE, Sky Sports 1/HD in UK and NBC Sports Network in USA.
CHELSEA FC SQUAD NEWS: Fernando Torres is suspended for this tie for his altercation with Jan Vertonghen during the Spurs game. Torres is also recovering from an injury which has sidelined him for 3 weeks. Marco van Ginkel is injured. Eden Hazard & Tomas Kalas have returned to training, but it’s unlikely for either of them to start, considering their match fitness.
Predicted Starting XI: Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Cole, Ramires, Mikel, Mata, Oscar, Schuerrle, Eto’o.
NORWICH CITY SQUAD NEWS: Norwich do not have any suspensions or injury concerns. New arrivals Nathan Redmond & Javier Garrido, as well as Sebastien Bassong are expected to feature after their return to fitness.
Predicted Starting XI: Ruddy, Martin, Turner, Bassong, Olsson, Tettey, Snodgrass, Fer, Howson, Pilkington, van Woflswinkel.
REFEREE: Neil Swarbrick.
TACTICAL OVERVIEW: Norwich came up with a surprise 1-0 away win over Stoke in the last gameweek. The trio of Fer, Tettey & Snodgrass in the middle of the park are the most influential among all Norwich players. While Fer & Tettey help in breaking up of play & move the ball forward, Snodgrass has created the most number of chances for the Canaries until now. Against Stoke, Chris Hughton’s side pressed in numbers & then broke free at a high intensity. When their goal was under threat, the Canaries defended with two banks of four. Norwich will certainly be boosted by the return of Bassong, who put up a tremendous performance against Spurs in their 2-0 loss.
Chelsea must be on the look-out for van Wolfswinkel’s tricky movement in between the two centre halves. Gary Hooper, the other alternative in Norwich’s front line is renowned for coming up with goals at important junctures of the match.
Chelsea will definitely look to retain the ball and create chances. However, the attacking trio and the striker(Eto’o/Ba) must ensure clinical approach before the goal.
FORM INDEX: Norwich City – DLWLLW ; Chelsea – WWDLW
FUN TRIVIA:
- Chelsea have won 7 of their last 8 matches against Norwich in all competitions.
- No Premier League team have scored fewer than Norwich’s four goals this season.
- Chelsea have won just 4 out of the 18 league games played at Carrow Road till date.
- 6000+ days have passed since Chelsea were last beaten by Norwich in any competition.
IN A NUTSHELL: Chelsea must win this game to not just keep up with Arsenal & Liverpool at the top rung of the ladder, but also to go into a sort of momentum before the 15 day break from club football. After the return from international fixtures, Chelsea have an important set of fixtures, facing Cardiff, Schalke, Manchester City and Arsenal in quick successions in three different competitions.
