BlueLion.

Come on Blues, we should be a couple up already in fairness.

4-3-3 then. Fucking brilliant

Scored a fucking phenomenal goal against us last season. He's a very, very hard-working player; the sort of striker I think we could benefit from. He knows that if he comes to Chelsea he is going to find it hard to dislodge Didier or Nicolas from the starting eleven, but it would still be a great career move for him. He'd be a potential 'super Sub,' and although we have some promising young forwards in Borini and Sturridge, I wouldn't feel all that confident going to the Emirates Stadium in an FA Cup tie without either Drogba or Anelka.

Will be a television game most likely then since Sky still have the rights to the match, unless they sell them off.

A number is a number. Players only change because traditionally, numbers 1 through 11 were the players who played in the first team during a match.

He was running around after his injury, but not as freely as usual. We have to appreciate he has only just come back from injury anyway, so no wonder he was a little sheepish with some of his movements. I reckon he'll be fine. I just hope Ghana draw or lose with Burkina Faso so we get him back. If he is indeed injured, Chelsea's medical facilities are better than anything there is in Angola.

The most positive thing about Ancelotti is that he seems really close to the players. Even during December, our month of troubles, the players and manager all seemed to stick together. This is quite surprising to be honest - he seems as popular as Hiddink or Mourinho ever were amongst the players, and I think the same could be said amongst the crowd as well. A strong bond indicates confidence, and we've certainly been demonstrating confidence after coming from behind against Fulham.

I wouldn't be surprised if Alex didn't change to the number 4 actually; that was his number at PSV.

Ancelotti seems to favour Joe Cole as a CAM rather than a winger, and Zhirkov is capable of playing LB. That really leaves Malouda as the one out-and-out winger, and he can play in a withdrawn central role as well, or behind the strikers as a third forward, as he did at OL.

True. But in fairness I think we need Drogba for this game, his aerial abilities against a tall Hull defence will be invaluable.

VS Chelsea F.C. vs Sunderland FAPL, 16 Jan 2010, Stamford Bridge, 1500 KO 2008/09 corresponding fixture - Chelsea (Alex, Anelka, Anelka, Lampard, Anelka) 5-0 Sunderland 2009/10 reverse fixture - Sunderland (Bent) 1-3 Chelsea (Ballack, Lampard, Deco) MATCH CHAT HERE

True, but the majority of the own goals have been very unfortunate for the defenders; ie. there was little they could do, such as Smalling's own goal in the Fulham game and Eustace against Watford.

The way the fixture list works out; we're not likely to play this match until March! And that will be when the Champions League is back in full swing.

Good call on Ivanovic there, he's been superb this season and has a lot more to give.

I agree. Ancelotti seems to like the Christmas tree variant; the 4-3-2-1. I think we've played some of our best football this season with that formation; the second half against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light remains our best 45 minutes of the campaign so far in my opinion, besides perhaps the first half against Wolves. I think the players are more comfortable with it; we've played the system regularly since the Mourinho days, and we have the wingers and forwards that are capable of playing in that formation. The Diamond has kept up top but it has severe limitations in terms of width; teams like Wigan and Villa have stopped us from playing by doubling up on the full-backs. With orthodox wingers we have more creativity, and the width we produce means players like Mikel, Lampard and Essien can become more involved, and when the full-backs have wingers to play with, they seem to get renewed attacking energy. Our performance against Watford highlighted that; Ivanovic and Zhirkov, and later Cole, played really well against Watford, and although it was against Championship opposition, we played brilliantly and really could and should have scored eight or nine.

The best signing of the Abramovich era, for me, has been Petr Cech. We paid £7 million for him; what a bargain.

In fairness, I'd like to see Ivanovic back at centre-half, if Bosingwa comes in at right-back. I think he's been our best defender this season and certainly deserves a place on performances alone. I've always rated Carvalho but there's no doubt he's well beyond his best; he and Terry can be incredibly cynical defenders with some of their challenges. Personally I think we have better defenders at the club than Carvalho, ie. Alex and Ivanovic; Alex is still working his way back to full fitness and Branislav has been superb. So we have a difficult decision - stick with Carvalho, bring Ivanovic over to centre-half with Bosingwa at right-back, or play Alex. Either way, two world class defenders will lose out.

Weah won it in the 90s. But I agree, he's certainly been the best player I've seen this season.

At a club that demands instant success, youngsters are always going to find it exceptionally hard. People say Arsenal's academy stars have a greater chance than the likes of youngsters coming through at Chelsea and United, but what have they won in the last five years? The game will probably be moved to the night of the rearranged Carling Cup semi finals.

Shocking, absolutely shocking. They should cancel the tournament. Its an utter disgrace.

Didier Drogba of Chelsea and Ivory Coast has been crowned the 2009 BBC African Footballer of the Year. The striker beat Samuel Eto'o, Michael Essien, Yaya Toure, and Tresor Mputu Mabi to the title. The results of the poll - voted for by football fans around the world - were announced live from Angola on the BBC African Service Fast Track programme. Drogba is preparing to lead his country at the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, where the Elephants are favourites. Full story - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/8448439.stm

Well when he introduces his little rule, the likes of Real Madrid, United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Sevilla, Fenerbahce, AC Milan and Fiorentina won't be able to enter the competition. I don't think le petit conne has thought this one through.

The jealous bitch can't afford to night with one of his favourite rent boys so he goes and attacks a team with half-decent finances.

The game was never going to go ahead, the weather in Hull has been absolutely atrocious.

I think people who say Ivanovic doesn't bring that much to the team in an attacking sense are wrong. Some of his crosses are brilliant, and he's got an impressive 5 assists this season.