Chelsea 2-1 Tottenham

[J.F. 1,484]

4-3-3 is our best formation.

[magicrico 175]

I hope CA isn't stupid enough to go 4-4-2 after we start to get form back from 4-3-3, if he does, we will draw or lose this game. Just sit Torres out, keep same team. Simples.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Agreed.

I think 4-4-2 will work for us in the future, but we need some out-and-out wingers á la Robben and Sanchez firstly.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Chelsea have a fully-fit squad, with Michael Essien, Ramires and Alex all available after injury.

Manager Carlo Ancelotti has suggested he will pair Fernando Torres with Didier Drogba in attack.

Tottenham defender Benoit Assou-Ekotto is sidelined by a hamstring problem, while Tom Huddlestone is likely to miss out because of an ankle injury.

Ledley King has a slim chance of making his first appearance since October after recovering from a groin problem.

From the BBC.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Lies!

[DYC. 7,542]

It will be so easy to lay the blame on CA (if we don't win to be clear) if he changes the formation after a good run with the 4-3-3.

[MetsajCFC 1,255]

Win this and we will be in the CL next season whatever happens, plus the ego of course as it is a derby

[Madmax 9,219]

It will be so easy to lay the blame on CA if he changes the formation after a good run with the 4-3-3.

Let's hope he doesn't give people an opportunity to blame him. Changing 433 would be a "d'oh!" moment of epic proportions.

[Tortilla9 390]

It will be so easy to lay the blame on CA if he changes the formation after a good run with the 4-3-3.

Or blame Torres. Or both, Carlo and Torres.

[alexamuller83 0]

SPAM

[Madmax 9,219]

SPAM

I'm not sure posting external links is allowed on this forum, we have our own in-house discussion topics and match reports.

[St Abramovich 175]

SPAM

Three points is the major thing.

I doubt Arsenal can make up 6 GD in four games and if things were to go the way we need them to for GD to even matter United would lose GD against Arsenal and if we beat them, anything we beat them by is doubled in terms of net GD because we gain one and they lose one. If things go the way we need them to the only thing we need to worry about in terms of GD is United running up the score against Blackpool.

Also Arsenal are on craptastic form whilst we look to be hitting form. Anyway I think the race is over, I'm not counting on Arsenal to get a result against United, I'd rely more on Blackburn or Blackpool.

[Ray. 217]

This game is a must win if we want to keep the dream of winning the PL alive. Think about it we win, we stay in 2nd place, 3 points behind United. Looking forward to it. Have to hope that Arsenal suddenly find their form on Sunday.

I think United are the ones under pressure with 2 competitions to think about and will be concentrating more on getting through to CL final.

[chrismada9 1,948]

Maybe Carlo took the two aside and said "You are both fantastic players, we have a change to catch Manchester United, we ARE going to make this work, don't F this up by refusing to play with each other or I'll kick both your asses". Or something like that.

That's putting them under immense pressure! If you experiment by putting them up front in Torres' first game, and he has no proper experience playing up front with a striker of Drogba's calibre, then it's no wonder he can't do much! It's the money spent on him that puts the pressure on him to deliver, making him try too hard.

[Tortilla9 390]

That's putting them under immense pressure! If you experiment by putting them up front in Torres' first game, and he has no proper experience playing up front with a striker of Drogba's calibre, then it's no wonder he can't do much! It's the money spent on him that puts the pressure on him to deliver, making him try too hard.

Torres does have experience playing up front with another world class striker, David Villa, when playing on the Spanish NT. I know he and Drogba are different but Villa is world class. Unfortunately for Torres, it doesn't seem to bring out the best in him although Villa is the first to point out the work off the ball that Torres does. He also mentions Torres' presence takes defenders away from him and gives him space to move. Spain builds up slowly where Torres plays better in quicker tempo game (just my opinion).

I hope whatever lineup/formation Carlo has lined up for tomorrow works regardless if Torres starts or not.

I'm not an expert by any means but if you want to play Torres and Drogba successfully together right now I think you need Drogba to play behind Torres.

[Madmax 9,219]

``I'm not a dictator,'' he said. ``If they want to have an opinion, they can speak, obviously.

``Maybe sometimes I ask the players if they are comfortable to play 4-3-3 or 4-4-2.

``I think that we don't have a problem to play 4-4-2 or 4-3-3. The result doesn't depend on the shape that you use.

``The result depends on the motivation that the players have, on the spirit that the players use on the pitch during the game.''

``Maybe they can sacrifice something of their ability, of their skills, but they can play together,'' he said.

``If you are able to do this, I think it is good for the team, to get good results. I think it will not be a surprise if they can start on Saturday together.''

- Carlo.

Please, no. If it ain't broken ...

[chrismada9 1,948]

Exactly! No point in changing the system if you already know that it's working!! I would stick to what we're used to right now seeing as we've got that winning mentality at the moment!

[Slam Dunk 1,442]

Very interested to see Carlo's tactics for this one. Drogba has looked like one of the few players willing to run at defenders the last few weeks, who knows, maybe he will play on the wing. We all know he can deliver a ball...