Venue: Estadio de Mestalla
Date: 28th September 2011
Time: 19:45 BST
So a return to the Mestalla for new boy Juan Mata tonight as we take on Valencia in the Champions League and a potential return for Fernando Torres after his early departure with a red card against Swansea on Saturday. Mind you, whether it’s Torres or Drogba on the bench tonight, we’ll just have to hope they agree to come on if called upon eh?
MANAGERS’ VIEWS
Valencia’s Unai Emery is hoping the tips he’s picked up from our defeat to United will give him the ammunition he needs for a win tonight, saying “Yes, that game could be used as a reference. Obviously, we play very different football from Manchester United. Chelsea make very few mistakes and we have to take our own chances. Chelsea have a very specific way to attack and a very specific way to defend. They’re a very physical team, they’re very offensive, very aggressive, they’re very experienced and strong. We know how difficult it’s going to be but we have to keep believing in ourselves and play our football. It is a very important game and we have to win it. We know how difficult it’s going to be because Chelsea are the favourites for the group. But if we keep on playing our football and playing our best, we can win this game, especially at home and with the support of the fans.”
Andre Villas-Boas meanwhile, isn’t reading too much into our opponents game against Genk last time out, saying “The result at Genk was unexpected. Genk is a difficult place to go and it’s a very tight stadium with a good environment. But I was expecting Valencia to take the win. So I would say that this is a game where Valencia will try to get three points. A win at Valencia would put us in a very, very good position.”
SQUAD NEWS
For Valencia, Robert Soldado should lead the attack, backed up by Jordi Alba, Sergio Canales and Pablo Hernandez. In defense, Victor Ruiz and Adil Rami will start, while in midfield David Albelda is a doubt after limping off at halftime in last week’s match against Barcelona.
For Chelsea, it’s decision time for AVB, with Frank Lampard’s position in question after his day on the bench Saturday. Alex, Paulo Ferreira and Josh McEachran have not made the trip, Romelu Lukaku is ineligible although Ramires is available after missing the Levekusen game through suspension and Sturridge (knee) is expected to be fit. Michael Essien (knee) remains out long-term.
CHELSEA TEAM
From: Cech, Ivanovic, Bosingwa, Terry, Luiz, Cole, Bertrand, Mikel, Romeu, Ramires, Lampard, Meireles, Mata, Malouda, Torres, Drogba, Anelka, Sturridge, Kalou, Turnbull.
PREDICTION
Last time we met in the Champions League (2006/07 CL quarter finals) we beat Valencia 3-2 on aggregate. Up til now, our opponents have one point from their 0-0 draw with Genk, whilst we took the full 3 points with a 2-0 win over Leverkusen. In all honesty we’d probably take a draw quite happily tonight and bearing in mind Valencia somehow managed a 2-2 with Barcelona, that’s probably just as well.
Blue is the colour
