Pizy

Have a feeling our clean sheet streak will end today and it will of course be Lukaku.

Like manpe said, I'd try him in place of Pedro/Willian but only if it's against an "easy" opponent. No way I'd risk him starting against a City/Liverpool/Arsenal at this point. If we have someone like Burnley or any one of these sides who will just sit back and park the bus with little quality in the middle of the pitch Cesc should thrive. He's still lethal when he has time and space to dictate the tempo of the game.

Before its decided that he needs to go, I'd at least like to see him in a midfield 3 with Kante and Matic. Even if it's just against the likes of Hull, West Brom, Sunderland, and the rest of the relegation fodder. Surely he'd have enough protection. I just can't imagine any of the small teams in the PL would be able to deal with a midfield with he, Kante, and Matic in it. Cesc would almost be completely free to ping it around. Hopefully he's fully fit soon so we can give it a shot.

Seeing a whole lot of super arrogant Everton supporters who think they're gonna spank us. If this was at their place I'd be really iffy but at home I think we'll win this. They'll be without their poor mans Kante due to suspension and Lukaku is really their only reliable goals threat. Him alone up top against both Luiz and Cahill should hopefully be manageable. My biggest worry will be from wide areas. Bolasie's pace and skills against Alonso who is pretty slow will be a concern. Will be tough but I can see a 2-1/3-1 win.

Must admit, I thought after yet another very impressive preseason for Victor he'd fade back into obscurity. Absolutely delighted that we finally have a manager who actually tells the truth when he said he plays those who earn their place rather than going solely on names. Moses has kept his head down and become indespensible now in our first XI. Huge credit to him. You can also tell he isn't letting his success get to his head and is just so glad to be playing. Humble and hungry.

Willian for Pedro, please.

We can't get a touch ffs! Just letting them dominate the ball and are inviting pressure.

Thankfully no Shane Long starting. His pace and constant pressing would've caused Cahill and Luiz fits.

The Saints play a style that we normally really struggle against so I'm not very confident that we'll win this. Hard working, high energy, lots of pressing, and great in wide areas. Hopefully Conte has everyone fully prepared and ready for all that and we don't have a huge letdown after such a great result against United.

Hey, guys, remember that young dude we had in our team...tall, solidly built, future Chelse star... Ruben something. What ever happened to that guy?

We MUST adjust our defending of Valencia. Can't keep allowing him to pump in cross after cross with Ibra in there.

Really worried about Rashford against either Moses or Alonso.

Man, imagine what a huge psychological boost a win would be. Not just for the players either. Conte getting a win against a huge opponent after those beatings we took at the hands of Liverpool and Arsenal.it would feel like vanquishing a demon and proving to ourselves that we can compete at the top. My biggest areas of concern are Matic and the wing backs Moses and Alonso. Matic has been very solid in the last few matches but will have some very athletic and highly mobile midfielders to deal with in Pogba and Herrera. Those are they types he normally struggles with. Then I'm nervous about how Moses and Alonso deal with a master tactician like Mou who is an expert at exploiting potential weakness. Luckily, I think I read Martial is out injured so we won't have his pace and trickery to deal with. If you offered me a draw right now I'd definitely take it.

In any other circumstance I'd agree, mate. Think he'll be having wet dreams all week about Pogba (the one player he wanted above any other but we couldn't get for him) scoring the winner so he can give Roman a fist pump from the touchline. If there's one thing we should all know as Chelsea fans is that José is a vindictive bastard who never lets anything go. He'll go for it.

Nah, I don't think there's any way José parks the bus against us like he just did there. He'll be out for revenge and trying to prove a point. He would love nothing more than to humiliate us like Arsenal and Liverpool have done. I expect them to press us high and kick the shit out of Hazard and Willian and wind Diego up as much as possible. Lets hope Costa's head is right and he just plays football instead of trying to fight everyone. Hazard also has to step up in a big game and not go into his shell.

Think I heard that's 8 penalties in 8 games for City. Ridiculous. Have we had a single one yet? I can't remember.

If we can maintain that level of performance and add an in form Willian instead of Pedro we'll be a very tough side to beat. Pedro just needs to calm down and slow down. It always looks like he's rushing everything. His touch is so erratic and his delivery is so poor. Then when he gets into perfect, clear cut scoring positions he fluffs it.

Experimenting with this 3-4-3 against shite like Hull is one thing. The pace and movement of a side like this is a whole other level. Be prepared for a struggle. Also lots of slow, zombie football where we can't string 3 passes together since w're coming out of an international break.

Really nervous about this. Mostly because if we get a bad result here we have fucking United next week where José can add to our misery. Win these next two matches and we're title contenders again, lose both and I don't think we're getting top 4 once again.

Just look at the pressing, energy, and athleticism that Spuds play with. Like Liverpool, they don't have world class players but have an elite coach with a well defined and similar philosophy that every single player buys in to. I hope that with time Conte will be able to get us playing like that. Most teams can't deal with constant pressing. We'll need to replace players like Matic and Fabregas if we want to play like that, though.

Kante, Moses, and Costa were all excellent. Alonso and Matic were both solid. Defense mostly untroubled after the first 10 or so minutes.

This has all the hallmarks of one of those matches where we dominate play but Hull get a flukey screamer to win 1-0.

Same story as our first 3 matches here. Attacking build up is okay but the final touch or ball is off. Diego also isn't getting any service at all.

I swear it feels like we've committed about 16 fouls so far. Unbelievably frustrating.

Jesus Christ, we can't string 2 passes together!