Chelsea will host West Bromwich Albion this Saturday looking to forget their Newcastle blushes from last weekend and buoyed by their 3-0 win over Schalke last night which has left them at the top of group E in the Champions League.
Meanwhile in the Premier League, the Blues are in second place, 5 points behind Arsenal and tied with Liverpool and Spurs at 20 points. Jose Mourinho would certainly want his team to continue their impressive home run and close in on Arsenal who have a tough away game at Old Trafford.
Although, the 2-0 loss suffered at St. James Park last week would come as a wake up call for the Blues, they managed to bounce back straight away with a convincing victory. Chelsea face a West Brom side who have been putting up some entertaining performances so far this season and have the capability to upset big teams on their day.
As far as the team news is concerned, Mourinho has already confirmed that Torres will miss out. Talking to the press before Schalke’s game, Mourinho said:
“Fernando has a muscular injury, we have to wait for the scans tomorrow but it’s easy to say he’s out tomorrow and at the weekend, after that is the international break and we’ll have to see if he can recover.’
‘Bertrand is injured, just today in training so I cannot say what, but he’s also out of selection.”
Here is a look at the possible line-up Jose Mourinho might deploy against West Brom.
Defence:
Except for Azpilicueta, the defence should remain unchanged. With Cech in the goal, Ivanovic should occupy his customary right back role while center backs Terry and Luiz should retain their positions. Cole who missed the Champions League game should retain his spot back in the starting berth.
Midfield:
The midfield area is where Mourinho would have a couple of selection issues. Mourinho dropped Eden Hazard against Schalke and when asked the reason behind it, the Portuguese manager explained that Eden Hazard’s poor timekeeping resulted in him being dropped.
“Did he forget the time? Look, he’s a kid. Kids make mistakes and fathers have to be clever in the way they educate their sons. He didn’t play. He wanted to play. He was sad because he didn’t play.
“We won without him. On Saturday [against West Bromwich Albion] he is back. So, end of story. Let’s forget Eden because I didn’t select him and, on Saturday, he will be with the team.”
Elsewhere Ramires should keep his defensive midfield position and expect Lampard who was rested during the Champions League outing to join him. Oscar will keep his customary No.10 role while on the wings, it should be Hazard and Schurrle.
Forward:
With Torres confirmed as a casualty, Eto’o after his impressive performance against Schalke should spearhead the Blues attack once again.
