It's only 86 days since goals from Anelka, Kalou and Ashley Cole were enough to beat a stubborn Sunderland side fighting for Premiership survival back in May, but the sides that face each other this evening will line up very differently from last season's encounter.
Like Chelsea, Sunderland recruited a new manager over the summer with Steve 'loyalty's my middle name' Bruce joining from Wigan. A takeover brought with it new funds and new players, and three new signings in particular for the black cats helped Sunderland to an impressive 1-0 win against Bolton at the weekend. Chelsea's midfield will face an entirely different prospect to the side they met on 24th of May, with early signs suggesting that Cattermole and Cana will combine well.
As much as the fee Spurs paid for his services was a joke, Darren Bent is still a good player and he, along with the powerful Kenwyne Jones, will certainly provide a much sterner test for John Terry et al. than Hull's forwards managed on Saturday.
Sunderland aren't without injury problems however, and the likely loss of both Malbranque and Richardson could deprive them of the pace and guile they'll need to have firing on all cylinders if they're to pose anything but an intermittent threat to Chelsea's defence.
Unlike Sunderland, it won't be Chelsea's starting 11 that's changed from last season's encounter, but their formation. We can expect Chelsea to line-up in the increasingly familiar 4-4-2 diamond, and for me the only question mark on team selection is around who anchors the midfield. Early signs are that Ancelotti doesn't 100% trust Mikel in that position, and Chelsea did improve once Essien took over in the second half against Hull.
The only real injury news for Chelsea is that Zhirkov still isn't available to make his Premier League debut - his knee problem is causing trouble. Joe Cole is still a couple of weeks from a return and, whilst there's a chance Alex and Beletti may have recovered from injury I doubt they'll figure in the first team.
Most interesting about this evening's fixture for me - after being relatively scathing of his tactics after Saturday's game - will be whether Ancelotti asks the two players playing at the sides of the diamond to stretch the play wide. If the diamond is going to work, Chelsea simply can't afford to rely solely on Cole and Bosingwa to provide the width.
Look out for the match review later...
bridgeviews.co.uk predicted line-up: Cech, Cole, Terry, Carvalho, Bosingwa, Essien, Ballack, Malouda, Lampard, Anelka, Drogba
bridgeviews.co.uk predicted result: Sunderland haven't beaten Chelsea in the Premier League since 2001 and I wouldn't expect them to break that habit this evening. Sunderland 0 Chelsea 2, Drogba to score first
Like Chelsea, Sunderland recruited a new manager over the summer with Steve 'loyalty's my middle name' Bruce joining from Wigan. A takeover brought with it new funds and new players, and three new signings in particular for the black cats helped Sunderland to an impressive 1-0 win against Bolton at the weekend. Chelsea's midfield will face an entirely different prospect to the side they met on 24th of May, with early signs suggesting that Cattermole and Cana will combine well.
As much as the fee Spurs paid for his services was a joke, Darren Bent is still a good player and he, along with the powerful Kenwyne Jones, will certainly provide a much sterner test for John Terry et al. than Hull's forwards managed on Saturday.
Sunderland aren't without injury problems however, and the likely loss of both Malbranque and Richardson could deprive them of the pace and guile they'll need to have firing on all cylinders if they're to pose anything but an intermittent threat to Chelsea's defence.
Unlike Sunderland, it won't be Chelsea's starting 11 that's changed from last season's encounter, but their formation. We can expect Chelsea to line-up in the increasingly familiar 4-4-2 diamond, and for me the only question mark on team selection is around who anchors the midfield. Early signs are that Ancelotti doesn't 100% trust Mikel in that position, and Chelsea did improve once Essien took over in the second half against Hull.
The only real injury news for Chelsea is that Zhirkov still isn't available to make his Premier League debut - his knee problem is causing trouble. Joe Cole is still a couple of weeks from a return and, whilst there's a chance Alex and Beletti may have recovered from injury I doubt they'll figure in the first team.
Most interesting about this evening's fixture for me - after being relatively scathing of his tactics after Saturday's game - will be whether Ancelotti asks the two players playing at the sides of the diamond to stretch the play wide. If the diamond is going to work, Chelsea simply can't afford to rely solely on Cole and Bosingwa to provide the width.
Look out for the match review later...
bridgeviews.co.uk predicted line-up: Cech, Cole, Terry, Carvalho, Bosingwa, Essien, Ballack, Malouda, Lampard, Anelka, Drogba
bridgeviews.co.uk predicted result: Sunderland haven't beaten Chelsea in the Premier League since 2001 and I wouldn't expect them to break that habit this evening. Sunderland 0 Chelsea 2, Drogba to score first
The 4-3-2-1/Christmas Tree worked well. Replace Kalou with Malouda or Zhirkov and I think we're onto a winner.
Posted by: Chris | 19 August 2009 at 11:35