xnaed

With his long-ass contract, no European club will buy him out for sure.. He either delivers on loan first to raise interests or agrees to agrees to the Saudis.
 
(not sure Saudis can accept his “only Jesus” necktattoo though.. he might have to add “Navas” or change it to “Only Mohamed”)

Hope that's Bettinelli.

CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report
n°77 - September 2022
Financial analysis of big-5 league clubs’ transfers
Drs Raffaele Poli, Loïc Ravenel and Roger Besson
https://www.football-observatory.com/IMG/sites/mr/mr77/en/
1. Introduction
Since its creation in 2005, the CIES Football Observatory has been monitoring football players’ transfers through information published by clubs, governing bodies and the media. This Monthly Report analyses economic flows for transactions occurred during the last decade from or to clubs in the big-5 European leagues: the English Premier League, the Spanish Liga, the German Bundesliga, the Italian Serie A and the French Ligue 1.
The report covers the ten-year period between 2013 and 2022. It analyses transfer fees paid by big-5 league teams (chapter “investments”), the clubs and leagues having benefited from these indemnities (chapter “receipts”), as well as the net balances at both teams’ and leagues’ level (chapter “net spending”).
The figures published include fixed indemnities for permanent transfers, eventual “add-ons” regardless of their effective payment, as well as sums invested for paying loans. The amounts paid in the case of loans with an obligation to buy are computed for the year of the transfer. Within the limits of information available, data on beneficiaries take into consideration eventual “sell-ons” negotiated by former clubs.
2. Investments
After the pandemic years, big-5 league clubs’ transfer market investments have risen sharply in 2022: +61% compared to the previous year. This holds true for both the winter (+190%) and the summer (+49%) transfer windows. The level of transfer fee expenditure observed in 2022 is the second highest over the ten-year period analysed: €6.2 billion (just about -7% with respect to the record high of 2019).

A noticeable increase compared to 2021 was recorded in the English Premier League: +€ 1.3 billion to exceed the €3 billion mark. This is an all-time record! Growth was measured in all of the major European championships. The share of English Premier League clubs’ investments out of total big-5 league teams’ ones also reached a new record in 2022: 48.5% compared to 38.7% during the whole ten-year period studied.

The rankings for clubs having committed the most money (including add-ons irrespective of their effective payment) to sign new recruits over the last ten years shows the financial power of a handful of dominant teams. Chelsea is at the top of the table with an average of €181M transfer fee investments per year, closely followed by Barcelona and the two Manchester’s clubs. The spending of the twenty most active clubs represents 52% of the total big-5 league club expenditure.

Chelsea (€333M) also tops the expenditure table for the 2002 calendar year, ahead of Manchester United (€268M), Barcelona (€267M) and the freshly Saudi-owned team of Newcastle United (€259M). The investments of the twenty most active clubs represent in this case almost 60% of total big-5 league teams’ transfer spending, which reflects the considerable gaps existing in the financial means available to clubs.

3. Receipts
The analysis of teams having benefited from transfer fees invested by big-5 league clubs over the past ten years shows that most of the money stays within the five major championships: almost two thirds of the total. This reflects the fact that the most expensive transfers generally occur between clubs of the five biggest leagues. However, in 2022, the share of fees cashed in by teams from other UEFA associations was particularly high (23.9%).

The Portuguese top division is the non-big-5 league that benefited most from transfer fee investments of clubs from the five major European championships. Their teams have collected €2.4 billion over the last ten years (on average €241M per year). Next, we find the English Championship (€216M/year), the Dutch Eredivisie (€172M/year) and, following further down, the Brazilian (€119M/year) and Belgian (€110M/year) top divisions.

With almost €1.2 billion in income generated by transferring players to big-5 league teams, Monaco tops the clubs’ earnings table for the ten-year period studied. Four teams outside of the five major European championships figure in the top 20: Benfica (7th, €867M), Ajax (9th, €812M), Porto (14th, €694M) and Sporting CP (20th, €551M). Though several wealthy clubs, such as Chelsea (2nd, €1.1 bn), are in the top 20, as we shall see in the following chapter, their transfer operations are in the red.

Manchester City (€279 M) is at the top of the table for transfer fees received from big-5 league clubs in 2022 (Sterling, Ferran Torres, Gabriel Jesus, Zinchenko, etc.). The English team outranks Ajax (Antony, Lisandro Martínez, Haller, Gravenberch, etc.), Brighton & Hove (Cucurella, Bissouma, Maupay, Östigard, etc.) and Porto (Luis Díaz, Vitinha, Fábio Vieira, Corona, etc.).

4. Net Spending
For an optimum understanding of the transfer market, beyond the sums spent and received, it is relevant to study the net balance of operations. With an accumulated deficit of almost €9.5 billion, the English Premier League stands apart from the rest. Conversely, despite Paris St-Germain’s highly negative balance (-€868M), the French Ligue 1 is the only competition from the big-5 recording a positive net transfer spending (+€350M) over the last decade.

The league figures for transfer operations concluded in 2022 confirm the specificity of the English case. Premier League teams registered a total negative spending of more than -€1.7 billion. This deficit is ten times higher than that of the league with the second most negative balance: the Spanish Liga (-€144M). Conversely, the French Ligue 1 (+€76M) and the German Bundesliga (+€18M) have positive figures.

Three French clubs, LOSC Lille (+€379M), Olympique Lyonnais (+€282M) and Monaco (+€215M), are at the top of the rankings for current big-5 league teams with the most positive transfer balances since January 2013. Thirteen Italian teams specialised in the trading of players follow them: Udinese (+€190M) and Atalanta (+€139M).

At the opposite end of the picture, Manchester United totals by far the most negative net transfer spending over the past decade (-€ 1.27 billion), followed by Manchester City (-€902M) and Paris St-Germain (-€868M). Twelve clubs from the English Premier League are in the top 20. All of the current English top division teams have negative transfer balances, while only five French Ligue 1 teams are in this situation.

The over-representation of Premier League clubs among those with the most negative balances for transfers is also noticeable for 2022. Indeed, ten English teams rank in the top twelve positions. Only Barcelona and Paris St-Germain break this hegemony. Conversely, Manchester City, Brighton & Hove and Leicester City are the only Premier League clubs in the top 20 of clubs from the big-5 having recorded the most positive net transfer spending in 2022.


5. Conclusion
Transfer fee investments of clubs from the five major European leagues strongly increased in 2022 in comparison to the pandemic years: +61% with respect to 2020 and +28% compared to 2021. A record spending for a calendar year was observed in the English Premier League: €3.0 billion (+€878 M with respect to the previous 2018 record).
A new record high was also registered with regard to the share of transfer fees paid by English Premier League teams out of total big-5 league clubs’ investments. From an average of 38.7% during the ten-year period studied, this percentage reached 48.5% in 2022. Ten clubs from the English top division figure in the top twelve positions of big-5 league teams with the most negative net transfer spending in 2022.
At league level, during the ten years analysed, the English Premier League cumulated a transfer deficit of almost €9.5 billion, followed by the Italian Serie A with “just” €1.4 billion. The French Ligue 1 is at the opposite end (+€350M). Manchester United tops the table for the most negative last ten years’ net transfer spending at club level (-€1.27 billion), while LOSC Lille is at the other extreme (+€379M). For 2022, the totals stretch from -€259M for Chelsea to +€118M for Manchester City.

Pep? The manager who finished with a 100 points last season, finishes with 81, despite investments.he has had a better season than FL who managed a team who lost their best player and the best player in the league. Had a transfer ban. Experts did not even predict us to finish in top 6, forget top 4. 
Wow. That's some weird expectations.
Wolves finished 6th/7th last season and this season. What did nuno do to improve? They were expected to finish where they did. We did not. Rodgers did not. Wilder did not. Klopp had one of the best PL campaingns. The 4 managers who exceeded expectations are the ones in the running as they should be.

And Alonso deserved that nomination. Go to the "English football thread" and read my last post. "Alonso is a quality LWB but a pathetic LB". It's not his fault if people who decide TOTY don't understand the difference between LWB and LB. He was genuinely good at the role given to him. Hence the nomination.
And our attack? We are having a paradigm shift in culture. Tell me how many goals the Liverpool teams conceded under Klopp before vvd? Or pep in his first season despite being able to buy. 
What embarassment? Stop over exaggerating things. We were always going to buy a new striker this window. So it was imperative to give both Tammy and michy a fair shot to understand if either or both had a future at the club. Plus Tammy was golden in the first half. Once his slump had come, he was dumped and Giroud was played. No one including FL would have doubted giroud's ability. Did not he bloody start the uefa super Cup too? But this year was about building blocks for the future. 
"Players like Kepa, Rudiger, Kante, Emerson, Jorginho regressed this season..."
Another baseless and over exaggerated comment.
Jirginho - got dog abuse for more than half of the last season with almost every pundit and fan wondering why was he being played ahead of kante. 
Emerson - yes. Because he was a worldie under conte and sarri. Baseless
Kante - one of our best players when he takes the pitch.
Rudiger - this one I accept. But read his own interview. He had a bad year, lamps did not tell him to go fuck up each game.
Kepa - lol. He was on a decline since the man City fiasco. 
Hmmm. So I am sure that things like penalties is not something which is discussed right? Drogba and jt magically end up taking the final pens. (Btw fuck JT too? Lol). These things are pre decided among the players and staff. Even at college level. Such things don't magically happen out of nothing. Blaming it on FL - baseless.
 
"Acting like lunatic". Wtf. So if someone triggers him, what is he supposed to do? Bend over?
Not saying FL has been flawless, but the pros mightily outweigh the cons. We have exceeded expectations in every comoetition. We are now buying kai, werner, ziyech as compared to being linked with Zaha, arnautovic and what nots shit. Anyone who is NOT sold on FL yet, should take a deep and hard look at themselves, the PL table, the same thread in last June/July. It's easy to critisize and be the arm chair critic. You can do the same for the best ever players and managers in the world becayse everyone has their flaws. But only thing that matters is if the positives outweigh the negatives. And they do. Given the resources (or rather the lack of), and given what he is buying when given the chance, everything points to him being on the right path. 
Anyways, not surprised. It's the same people spreading their pointless agenda. 

LWB is priority because we have 2 players who can play RWB (Azpi, Moses). We have no left-footed players who can play LWB other than Alonso, and don't tell me Kenedy. RWB is not that pressing because we can rotate there, even Rüdiger can possibly slot in if needed. Ideally we upgrade both, but the left side seriously needs numbers first.

Just looks like an updated version of last season's kit that will be used as the secondary GK shirt last season.
Another example is, in 2010/11, Cech wore an updated version of the 2009/10 home goalkeeper kit against MSK Zilina [away] in the UCL.
Original:

Updated for the 2010/11 season with new template:


You'll note the sleeve design is totally different, without all the excessive green stitching. Instead it is the 2009 colourway of the 2010 adidas goalkeeper shirt template:

Only sad bastards like me would notice the very intricate differences, but adidas do this quite regularly. That shirt will probably be our second-choice GK shirt for next term.

In 2006/07, adidas gave us one new GK kit (two different colourways, which we used to mix and match, for instance click here for a picture of Cech that season in a mixture of both):
Home:

Away:

In 2007/08 we kept the grey (above) as our second choice GK kit; the navy (above) as our third choice GK kit, and introduced this new primary strip:

in 2008/09 we used the black (above) as a third goalkeeper strip, but it was never used, as the primary kit was the orange number below (home):

We also had this gorgeous away kit (same style, different colourway), which we never actually wore (apart from in promos):

in 2009/10 we retained the orange kit as a back-up kit to this:

In 2010/11, the above kit was retained (albeit in a modified style) as a second GK strip, with the following as a primary shirt:

in 2011/12, we had a brand new white primary strip (below), but we retained the above black kit as a secondary kit (worn vs Barcelona in the 2-2, for instance, but noticeably it went back to the old 2009/10 version rather than the updated style) and the green as a third kit (worn vs Leicester in the 5-2 FA Cup game, for instance):

For the 2012/13 season we had that gorgeous green and gold kit, with the white retained as a second strip and worn, actually, surprisingly regularly due to referees regularly wearing green that season:

For 2013/14 we had the bumblebee kit, with the green/gold number retained as a secondary kit:

And this year we had the red/orange number, whilst the yellow was retained as a secondary strip but also worn regularly due to the number of teams wearing red in the Premier League:

My point being that one GK kit is usually retained for the following season.

Ofcourse we aint excited. Our brain capacity only allows us to remember the 2 most recent games. High five !!!

Sad if this is true. Since I started supporting Chelsea, Lamps has always been one of my favorite players. I can kinda understand his situation though, he wouldn't be playing much if he stayed with us next season, it's just a shame he didn't get a proper send off. Hopefully he'll get a testimonial soon, and I'm certain he will be back at the club in some sort of coaching role in the future.

Like Kalas, Petr Cech was invited to be part of a Czech talkshow which took place in London a few weeks ago. Here are some things mentioned and talked about -
PC was introduced as the best and greatest Czech in London at first, there were problems with his mic and port which both PC and the comedian laughed at because PC had not said a word until then it is the second time he has been part of this show, and since the first appearance he is still top quality there was a huge, huge fight in the stands during one league game in the Czech Republic and PC said that if the country made at least some progress that happened in England, it would be a good start every single seat in an English stadium is monitored and PC shared a story of his Czech friends who came to watch the Chelsea v Liverpool game. In the 20th minute of the game they took a flask out of their pockets, had a drink and from the 21 minute, they were following the game in a pub He was asked what he is doing for his own sake that he has been on top for so many years, which he replied to by saying that he is trying to learn something new every single day to improve, though sometimes it is very difficult as everybody has his limits, but at least he has the feeling that he is doing his best Right after that, he was asked what he did the day before to improve PC admitted that the day before he did not spend so much time improving himself they had a game. But he was immediately told that he should have done some work in the morning, like practising situations with own goals PC honestly answered that he did not prepare for a situation like that. Said he would be busy doing so next week There was a question whether he has some fears before a game, a game which could be really tough. His answer was that since 2006 he expects anything on football pitch. After that he said a very nice Czech proverb that if you fear something, you should not be doing it then. But he was encouraged by the comedian that in the Czech Republic there is a different time zone so PC can be more explicit, to which PC replied that before any game, you just can't shit in your pants and be a man, never think about it When PC makes a mistake, he thinks to himself - remember this and never do it again. Sure it's different when you make a mistake but still win 4-1 but when your mistake costs your team, then 'really, really remember and never, never do it again' PC also said that when he concedes a goal from a striker or any other typical goalscorer, he is angry at himself and thinks - 'fuck, I was studying this striker for two hours yesterday, I should have expected this kind of a finish'. Before every game, he studies all the strikers and their finishes, that's why he gets angry at himself During the game, though, he never thinks about the previous save or mistake. His state is that he always considers the game as 0-0, at every minute and every point of the game. Only this 0-0 thinking can keep him fully focused and calm After this they started talking about his passion to drumming which makes his wife really excited and happy about PC does not know whether he would like to take up a drumming career after football but says that when he starts doing something, he gives his all and best to it Every time he gets the oppportunity, he goes to a soundproof room next to his garage and starts drumming and he can stay there playing even 2 hours, no problem. The vibrations, though, show some pretty marks of him playing in the house He has some exercises but when he is not in the mood, he just takes an ipod, headphones and plays to the music. So he can hear the music and likes the belief that he is drumming well Petr's karaoke His wife always says - Couldn't you choose anything else, like a piano, because she likes pianos Back to football, PC can never understand when somebody says he enjoyed the CL final in Munich, as it was extremely nerve-wrecking. It is no fun playing a game that you have to win or all your work during the season is lost. Naturally, the victory tastes better then. PC was asked about the situation when a new manager comes in, to which he replied that he is used to it as they have a new manager at Chelsea every year It's an encouragement for all those who have not been playing recently. He was then informed about all this records, to which he responded humbly that he is lucky to be playing for 10 years at one club, not to picking up a lot of injuries and successfully fighting for the number one spot. Naturally, the numbers then grow. Again, those who understand Czech can watch it here

"Steven Gerrard walks into a Ba......well you know the rest."

:D Sitting duck

Sigs for everyone !

That's one odd-looking heat map

People are actually buying into the psg bs. I expect roman tp buy psh rather than us selling them EH.

Yessss!!!! how many times did we hit the post ?

Manchester City welcome Jose’s Chelsea to the Etihad, in what seems to be a game that could tilt the title towards the club that grabs all the three points. The noisy residents of Manchester banged 5 past Hugo Lloris and Tottenham, while Chelsea struggled to convert their chances into goals against medieval football. For all the hype surrounding City’s blistering form in front of goal, what should Chelsea expect?

City while transitioning into attack, hold nothing back. Taking the term all guns blazing to another level. Freedom is given to a lot of players, and responsibilities, not always equally shared.
The center-backs push up and Kompany orchestrates and organizes the structure. On paper it is a 4-4-2, but it looks far from it when City are in full flow. Fernandinho and Toure are the so called central midfielders. Fernandinho prefers to defend, while Toure prefers to attack. Silva and [enter name of your choice except Navas] are the wide midfielders, who function as interiores . However when City need a bit of width due to their full-back unable to do because of the opposition’s strategy, Navas gives them an edge. He hugs the touchline and drags players out wide for small pockets of space to open up.
City when using an interiores function a bit different as said before. Both the full-backs are to get themselves forward, with the full-back who is not directly taking part in the attack, holding himself back and being level with the last man in midfield. To explain that easier, if the ball is being played on the left, the right-back will hold himself a little back and be level with the defensive midfielder to make sure counter-attacks lose their efficiency.

A screen grab from the Arsenal game. Zabaleta has positioned himself well to either receive the ball or retreat quickly in case the ball is lost.
Another area to look at is the vital three man engine. The engine that keeps the team fluid and running at all times. Silva drops in the middle, and works with Toure and Fernandinho. They try to make each other available through their movement, which is exceptionally clever. One man always defends, and we all know who that is. By doing so, they also negate the problem of having no man behind the two strikers as seen on paper. To an extent it’s largely seen as a 4-1-3-2 .
If Chelsea are to win it’ll be vital to shut that area down, that is the bottom line. Block passing lanes, be physical and make sure that at least one of the three is never in the game for 90 minutes. That increases our chances of getting a favourable outcome to 40% .
Now if those three form the engine, one of the two strikers is the fuel. Aguero and Negredo was a blossoming partnership, with Aguero acting as the front-man and Negredo often dropping deep to collect the ball and link up play. This also helps negate another problem. City on paper would be heavily outnumbered in the attacking third when the midfield joins in. With a striker dropping deep, it could essentially change a 2v3 scenario to a 3v3 .
Dzeko and Jovetic have also been used, and in that partnership, the best part is that both of them can drop deep naturally to facilitate the play. All their strikers are exceptionally good at drifting to wide areas. Versatility is key in their play.
 


Now I don’t have much to say about their defensive transition but, there seems to be this kind of idea that City are going to be really easy on the counter, and that isn’t the truth. It was quite easy at the start, with Pellegrini having quite a few problems in defining a philosophy that could make ball retention easier.
City also have their fair share of players tracking back, notably on the side Silva starts in, as it tends to be more open. From one of the strikers, to atleast two of the midfielders, they don’t hesitate to pull themselves back and recover possession.
On a tactical perspective, Monday to a football fan is going to be what cocaine is to a drug addict.
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I watched a video of Garrincha and somehow Hazard's style of dribbling and controlling the ball resembles that of the Brazillian wonder. Don't ya think?

Wishing Mata the best for his future would be indirectly wishing united to do well, anyways i'm grateful for what he has done here and hence a big 'thank you Mata' from me.
As for us we don't have too many who can take good free kicks (Lampard will be featuring less and less in the future and Luiz is hardly consistent ); there were times when we had Drogba, Ballack, Lampard and sometimes Alex lining up to take free kicks and scaring the shit out of the opposition goalkeeper. Schurlle? Oscar? maybe

I'm one of the people hoping Courtois will get the spot, but I don't blame folk that want to go on with Cech, just casting him aside just seems unreal at this point.
There were always gonna be 2 camps here, we'll just have to wait and see how it pans out

The Match
Chelsea prepare to lock horns once again with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light - after the Blues recently came up on top in a pulsating 4-3 win in the Premier League - in the Capital One Cup quarter final tomorrow at 7.45pm UK time.
This will be the first time the two sides meet in domestic cup competitions in 21 years and the first in the League Cup since 1985 where Sunderland beat the Blues 5-2 on aggregate in the semi-finals. Chelsea have never won against Sunderland in domestic cup games – P4 D1 L3 – but enjoyed domination over the Black Cats having won 17 of their last 18 Premier League meetings.
Sunderland have enjoyed home comforts and this game will represent their fourth successive home game in this season’s competition after overcoming MK Dons, Peterborough United and Southampton in the last three rounds. In contrast, Jose Mourinho’s men qualified for this round after comfortably disposing both Swindon Town and Arsenal 2-0 at the County Ground and Emirates Stadium respectively in the previous rounds.
Chelsea head into this game on the back of 5 wins in their last 7 matches in all competitions – despite producing unconvincing performances – and lost just twice in that run. Their host, on the other hand, have been inconsistent and struggling for form at the bottom of the Premier League since Gus Poyet took charge of the club in mid-October. Poyet’s team have been unable to string together two positive results – apart from one occasion - on the spin with his side alternating between a win, draw and loss – LWLWWLDLLD.
This game will offer some respite for both teams as zero points are at stake and greater freedom in expressing themselves against one another with a place in the semi-finals up for grabs. A win for Sunderland here would serve as a major confidence boost in their Premier League survival bid but it remains to be seen if Gus Poyet wants the distraction of two extra games in January should he beat his former side. For Jose Mourinho, winning tomorrow would mean his side is one step closer to claiming the first trophy available this season and increase the confidence level ahead of next Monday’s top of the table clash with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
Past 5 Meetings – all in Premier League (P5 W5 F12 A6 CS1)
4th December 2013 – Sunderland 3-4 Chelsea
7th April 2013 – Chelsea 2-1 Sunderland
8th December 2012 – Sunderland 1-3 Chelsea
14th January 2012 – Chelsea 1-0 Sunderland
10th September 2011 – Sunderland 1-2 Chelsea
Team News
Sunderland
Gus Poyet has no fresh injuries to deal with following Sunderland’s goalless draw against West Ham at Upton Park on Saturday. Jack Colback is rated doubtful after missing the aforementioned game with illness and will go through a late fitness test to determine his availability. Carlos Cuellar and goalkeeper Keiren Westwood are set to miss this game with a hip and shoulder injury respectively.
Poyet’s starting XI selection will determine the level of ambition he has on this game given the more pressing concern of staying in the Premier League. However if his team selection in the 2-1 win over Southampton in the last round is anything to go by, then another strong line-up will be fielded to face his former charges tomorrow.
Provisional Squad: Mannone, Pickford, Bardsley, Brown, Celustka, O’Shea, Dossena, Roberge, Cabral, Ki Sung-Yueng, Larsson, Giaccherini, Gardner, Johnson, Borini, Cattermole, Altidore and Fletcher
Chelsea
Jose Mourinho is likely to continue his rotation policy – as he did against Swindon and Arsenal – and rest certain players while giving others more game time. Branislav Ivanovic is suspended for this game having picked his 5th domestic yellow card of the season against Crystal Palace. Cesar Azpilicueta is set to replace the Serbian and start in his natural right back position for only the 3rd time 15 appearances this season – the previous two also came in this competition.
Ashley Cole will start at left back after Mourinho confirmed of his inclusion last Friday in his press conference as his deputy Ryan Bertrand is still out with an injury for another week at least. Center back Gary Cahill was rested on Saturday due to pain in his quadriceps and it remains to be seen if he has recovered in time to start this game. Otherwise, John Terry and David Luiz are set to continue their central partnership in defence.
Mark Schwarzer looks set to start once again in goal and the same applies for Michael Essien as both have played every minute of the Capital One Cup this season. Kevin De Bruyne should finally get his chance to impress the manager and Mourinho may well also give game time to Oscar and Samuel Eto’o to shake off their rustiness having just recovered from respective injury recently.
Provisional Squad: Cech, Schwarzer, Blackman, Azpilicueta, Terry, Cahill, Luiz, Kalas, Cole, Mikel, Ramires, Essien, Lampard, Oscar, Mata, De Bruyne, Hazard, Schurrle, Willian, Eto’o, Ba and Torres
Stats and Facts
1. Chelsea have reached the quarter-finals of the League Cup in 10 of the last 13 seasons. They have progressed in five of their nine previous ties in this run. (via BBC)
2. They have kept three successive League Cup clean sheets, all away from home. (via BBC)
3. The Blues have managed eight clean sheets in their last 12 away games in this competition. (via BBC)
4. Jose Mourinho has never lost a League Cup game as Chelsea manager (excluding penalty shootouts), winning 12 and drawing three of 15. (via BBC)
5. There have been three own goals scored in the last two meetings between Sunderland and Chelsea. (via BBC)
6. Chelsea have kept just 3 clean sheets in their last 10 matches in all competitions. In contrast, Sunderland have kept 3 clean sheets in their last 6 games.
7. Chelsea last failed to score at the Stadium of Light back in 2001 in 0-0 draw, 10 matches ago.
8. Sunderland have only failed to score ONCE in their last 14 matches at the Stadium of Light in all competitions.
9. Sunderland have only kept 2 clean sheets in their last 13 matches at the Stadium of Light in all comeptitions.
10. Sunderland are appearing in the quarter-finals of this competition for the seventh time, and first since losing to Crystal Palace in 2000-01. (via BBC)
11. The Black Cats are winless in their last five matches. (via BBC)
12. Despite playing just 5 domestic games this season, Michael Essien is one yellow card away from serving a one game suspension.
Match Odds (Final Result/Full Time)
Sunderland WIN - 5/1
DRAW - 14/5
Chelsea WIN - 8/15
*Odds obtained from SkyBet*
TV
Depending on where you are from, you can watch the match in the following channels:
United Kingdom: Sky Sports 1/HD, Sky Go UK, Sky Sports 1 Ireland
United States: beIN Sport Play, beIN Sport USA
Middle East: Al Jazeera Sports
Belgium: Belgacom 11+
India: Ten HD, Ten Action
For additional regions, you can check out the TV schedule for the match here.
There should be many match streams that can be found online if your local sports channels are not broadcasting the game or if you happen to be busy and cannot catch the game live, follow TalkChelsea on Twitter as it would provide live match commentary on the action.
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That's disgusting. He's a classless character and doesn't deserve to wear the Chelsea jersey.
I still remember him saying something racist about Kanoute's mother in the Sevilla vs Barcelona match..and when Kanoute approached Fabregas, gave him a light push...Fabregas fell to the floor like he was shot in the chest.
Only blind fans will disregard a players character...it's not ALWAYS about football.

Cesc Fibreglass the classless cunt.

No doubt he learned his charming personality from Barcelona's academy of cheaters and sore losers. We should sign Suarez, Pepe, Ramos, Pinto and Busquets while we're at it. People will love us.

Anyway, I don't care about his ability, because there are some players you just don't even mention wearing a Chelsea shirt. Fibreglass is one of those players. I lost count the amount of times he's called us 'boring' after us handing his arse to him, either at Arsenal or Barca. Tit.

Our football and winning ways offended his eyes, so seeing him in our shirt would offend mine.

Cunt. Not even worth cleaning Lampard's boots.

Would rather put a nail through my own tongue than see this classless mercenary wear the blue of my team.