Jase

https://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest-news/2017/12/fa-cup-game-to-be-shown-live-on-tv.html The game against Norwich will be on TV! It'll be on Jan 6, Saturday at 5:30pm UK time. Man Utd not on TV, at last(!), by the way.

http://sportwitness.co.uk/hazard-opens-chelsea-situation-transfer-rumours-jokes-zidane-coming-stamford-bridge/

Moyes will apparently stick with Adrian in goal too.

Does it really matter if we are the dark horses or not?

That part I did not misunderstand. Never disagreed with it. In fact, I reiterated my point to agree with that.

Seems I may have misunderstood who you were addressing in the post. Apologies.

Possible opponents for the group winners and runners-up...

No, I totally get your point about Conte. What I don't get is you suddenly accusing me of making a point just to get likes, just because you don't agree.

Wow, really? Not suggesting for one moment Conte will park the bus and hope for the best like we did under Mourinho. Pretty sure we won't. But is it wrong to suggest Conte may approach the knockout stage games more cautiously than he has in the group stage given it will be two-legged affairs and there's the away goals rule? For the record, I for one am liking how Conte is managing the squad right now, especially given the players he has at his disposal. Certainly not going overboard like some has and demanding we should be playing attacking football in every game just for the sake of it. Our squad has its limits at the moment and I applaud Conte for maximizing that as much as possible. If you read the post-match reactions in this forum, especially after big games, maybe you might notice all that.

Have to say, watching Zappacosta play at LWB last night was an "interesting" experience. It was clear that he has never played there before or if he has, then he has no clue how to make it work in that position. Was quite annoying to see him keep on coming inside onto his right foot because against teams like Atletico, you want the WBs to maintain the width and stretch their backline but in the end, he made it easy for Atletico to contain him. That said, one noticeable - and it's not hard to notice - as well as positive thing is that we got a glimpse of our attack looking much more dangerous with pace down the left hand side. Zappacosta didn't do anything great there last night but in one situation, his pace and the ability to inject it into the play saw him almost score from distance last night. Now, all we need is to get a proper pacey, intelligent LWB in the transfer window...

Batshuayi in action tonight against MK Dons.

Were we really weaker in 2014 than now? If you compare the players we've got now and back then, it feels they're pretty much the same. At the end of the day, it all came down to the manager's approach. One chose to be negative, the other chose to be positive. That being said, it'll be interesting to see how Conte approaches 2-legged ties. It's one thing to be attack-minded in the group stage, it's another to do in the knockout stage, where the stakes are a lot higher.

This thread is rather 'funny' after every match these days. On one hand, it's nice to see people praise Hazard all the way to the heaven and deservedly so. But on the other hand, it's utterly miserable to see some so keen to remind that he might be leaving the club.

So, so cool, calm and collected defensively. Is he really just 21 years old? On the other hand, can't believe he didn't score at least ONCE from the two clear chances he got tonight.

Surely we won't screw this up? This game feels like one of those 'trap' games.

We're getting really desperate, aren't we?

West Ham 1-0 Chelsea PRE/POST-MATCH DISCUSSION, LIVE CHAT AND ANALYSIS 2017/18 Premier League Match 16 9th December, Saturday, 2017 London Stadium 12:30 Kick Off (UK time)

Here's something to note during the R16 period... First Leg Dates - 13, 14, 20 and 21 February Second Leg Dates - 6, 7, 13 and 14 March We have Man Utd (a) on Feb 24 and Man City (a) on Mar 3, back to back in the league. IF we or United reach the League Cup final, then that Old Trafford game gets postponed.

IF we do get PSG or Barcelona, will be interesting to see what will Conte do in the 2 games. Can't imagine we would be as defensive as we were under Mourinho. January transfer window could be key to helping our chances of progressing far in the competition.