Who    :   Swansea vs Chelsea

What   :   English Premier League, Week 10

Where :   Liberty Stadium, Swansea, Wales

When   :   Saturday, November 3, 2012

Time     :   15:00 p.m. GMT

Referee : Kevin Friend.

League leaders Chelsea travel to the Liberty Stadium on Saturday and will hope to get back to winning ways in the league after suffering their first loss of the season last weekend against Manchester United. But it will not be a walk in the park for the Blues as the Swans are blooming high with confidence after upsetting Liverpool midweek in the Capital One Cup.

 

Chelsea : 

The Blues will look to maintain that 1 point lead they hold over the Manchester clubs and this game, on paper at least, is the only easy fixture congested between the series of hard games for the Blues.

 

Team News :

In defence, they will be without John Terry once again as he serves his last of the 4 match match ban against Swansea. Bertrand is set to replace the injured Ashley Cole and Ivanovich will be available after missing the midweek Capital One match. Luiz could be rested and Ivanovich could start in the center moving Azpilicuetta to the right flank.

Lampard’s return date is unknown and once again Mikel will partner Ramires in the middle. Romeu had a good chance to put pressure on one of them after he was given a start against Manchester United on Wednesday but after his mistake which led to the opening goal of United, he might be considered only if there is a late injury concern for the Blues.

The Blues will once again depend on the dangerous trio of MATA-HAZARD-OSCAR not only to score but also to provide that sparkling creativity which has defined their season so far. But Mata will have to pass a late hamstring test and Moses could start.

Torres or Sturridge? Although the red card against United last week was a pathetic call by the referee, Torres hadn’t done much in that game either ways and was just about to be substituted before being sent off. And after Sturridge scored in the midweek game, one wouldn’t be surprised if he gets the nod on Saturday. But RDM is known to trust the experienced players and Torres might just about retain his place.

 

 

Swansea :

Supporters of the Welsh side will be hoping that their side can reproduce a similar performance to last seasons fixture at the Liberty Stadium between the two sides, a match that saw Chelsea snatch a fortunate draw through a last minute own-goal. They started this season on a bright note after 5-0 and 3-0 victories in their opening 2 games. However they won just one game after that and will be the underdogs for the game.

 

Team News :

Swansea will be without first choice keeper Michel Vorm who was injured last weekend against City and that will be a huge loss for them. Gerhard Tremmel will replace Vorm and will have to bring in a special performance if Swansea are to deny Chelsea goals.

Ashley Williams is set to lead the side despite an ankle problem while Neil Taylor and Kyle Bartley are out too.

Dyer and Routledge have 2 goals each and their pace and creativity will be needed in abundance.

But the main threat will certainly have to Michu. The 26-year-old Spaniard is one of four EPL players to score in his first three games in the league and so far is undoubtedly one of the best pickups of the summer.

 

 

 

Prediction :

Swansea 0-2 Chelsea

With the absence of Vorm, it will be very hard for Swansea to keep a clean sheet. And the fact that it has been over 5 games in all competitions since Cech has kept a clean sheet, he and his defence will be quite rigid at the back. Chelsea have a good enough frontline to seal the 3 points.

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