Strike

I must have posted it already Edit/Add anything I missed out like TC providing live updates on twitter

About the match: In-form Chelsea travel north to face a troubled Newcastle United team this Saturday in the Barclays Premier League. Having won the last 6 games in all competitions, the Blues are riding high on confidence while Newcastle have endured a troubled week losing to local rivals Sunderland before getting knocked out of the League Cup on Wednesday. Victory for Chelsea in Saturday's lunch-time kickoff will take them to the top of the Premier League overtaking current leaders Arsenal Date/Time: Saturday, November 2, 2013, 12:45 GMT, 07:45 EST, 20: 45 HKT Venue: St James Park, Newcastle Upon Tyne, England About the Opposition: Despite sitting in 11th position in the table, manager Alan Pardew is under pressure to produce results and a defeat could send Newcastle into the relegation zone by the end of the weekend. The Magpies' home record is poor this season, with only one win to date, against Fulham. Latest Meetings: In the first encounter between the two sides last season, goals from Fernando Torres and Eden Hazard gave Chelsea a routine 2-0 win but in the reverse fixture, Newcastle beat Rafa Benitez's Chelsea 3-2 with late goals from Moussa Sissoko overturning Chelsea's 2-1 lead. Last 10 meetings P W D L GS GA 10 4 3 3 17 12 Recent form Newcastle: LWDLL Chelsea: WWWWW Team News Massadio Haidara and Paul Dummett both limped off in the cup against City in midweek and are doubts for this game as a result. Steven Taylor and Fabricio Coloccini are also unlikely to return in time, giving Pardew a selection headache in defence. Pardew could hand Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa a start in defence after he missed the derby against Sunderland due to suspension. Jose Mourinho meanwhile has a selection headache of a different kind. Against Arsenal, the Blues boss made 10 changes from the team that faced Man City, and the B team produced a good performance in the 2-0 win in midweek. With a Champions League game against Schalke coming up later in the week, Mourinho may rotate the team again. Marco van Ginkel is the only Chelsea player out injured. Possible Starting Lineups Newcastle: Krul; Debuchy, Williamson, Yanga-Mbiwa, Santon; Tiote, Sissoko, Cabaye, Ben Arfa, Gouffran; Remy Chelsea: Cech; Ivanovic, Luiz, Terry, Cole; Ramires, Lampard, Hazard, Oscar, Willian; Torres Stats and Facts - Newcastle have netted a joint-league-high five goals from outside the box this season and have conceded the joint-most headed goals this season (five, along with Fulham) - Only bottom two Crystal Palace and Sunderland have conceded more goals than Newcastle's 16 in this season's Premier League - The Blues have the best home record in the Premier League but are ranked 13th in the away form table, having won just one of their four away matches so far - Jose Mourinho has won only two of his last nine Premier League away games (D5 L2) - Chelsea have not conceded more than one goal in any League game this season - Eden Hazard has created more chances from open play than any other player in the Premier League this season (19) Odds: Newcastle United 5.50, Chelsea 1.65, Draw 3.80 Coverage: The game will be aired on BT Sport 1 in the UK, NBC Sports Live in the US and on Fox/ESPN in Asia and Australia. For region-specific details visit http://www.livesocce...ted-vs-chelsea/ You can also follow the game on Twitter through the live feed on our Official Account. Click here to view the article

So this is what it feels like to have depth

Sure, no problem

Rest Torres. He's first choice now. Probably Eto'o up front with Mata, Willian and de Bruyne behind him

Fuck the exchange rate..

Hazard was a disappointment in a big game again. Especially given his recent form

Fernando Torres....He scores when he wants

Mourinho's celebration. Simply awesome

What happened to Cech though. Frozen on the spot

Well fuck this. Everything has gone to hell now

Good half from the defence. Kept up the concentration. Apart from a Aguero shot from a tight angle and a few pot-shots from distance, Cech has had nothing to do

Sit deep and counter (if possible) at home? This is not Barcelona we are facing. Should be controlling the game

Looks like City are more scared of us than we are of them

No David Luiz. I hope Cahill has a stormer

Lampard starts

weird City team. Demichelis making debut

Tyne-Wear derby today. Poyet needs a miracle

Eden v Zabaleta direct battle today. Wouldn't be surprised if he scores, he's in form atm

68 points without Suarez in the team Yaya, Zabaleta, Michu yet to play

Hahaha Brilliant

There is a big(ish) game every weekend now. Arsenal to face Liverpool and United back to back early next month. I think Chelsea or City will be leading once the dust settles. Huge game this weekend

The team hasn't fired yet. Apart from the first half vs Hull, I don't think Chelsea have dominated a game for a good amount of time. It is a good sign that the team is winning games but note that we're only scraping wins. There is so much room to improve atm. That is an ideal scenario which I think will never happen.

Against Norwich, it did help turn the tide a bit. Norwich were all over us at the start of the second half. It was also used against Everton. We were doing well before the switch then and not so well after the switch was made in that game. Still did not lose control of the game at any point with the 3 at the back Atleast there is a real backup plan now rather than just minor tweaks to the system. Under the last few managers, I don't remember a major change in the way we played to chase results

The fascinating thing so far this season is the back up plan. the team is completely re-shuffled if things aren't working. 3-5-2 or 3-6-1 or whatever you call it has worked well for the last 2 games now. Opposition is getting flooded in midfield and the defence has yet to concede a goal with 3 at the back