Chelsea vs QPR preview

Chelsea seems to have put their World Club championship disappointment behind them. The Blues have scored a lot of goals after the tournament in Japan.

POSSIBLE LINE UPS
Chelsea
Turnbull- Ivanovic, Cahill, David Luiz, Cole-Ramires, Mikel - Moses, Oscar, Marin - Torres

QPR
Cesar- Onuoha, Ferdinand, Nelsen, Traore - Mbia, Derry - Mackie, Taarabt, Wright-Phillips - Cisse

John Obi Mikel and Oscar may start Chelsea's first premier league match of the year at Stamford Bridge. The duo were not part of the first eleven that managed a 2-1 win over Everton on Sunday. Mikel might play his last game for Chelsea until the end of Nigeria's participation at the African Cup of Nations in south Africa.

Chelsea have won their last four games and they will face a bottom side that is tinkered by Harry Redknapp.

The Hosts
Petr Cech is a major doubt for the London derby against Rangers. The Czech international keeper was substituted at half time at the Goodison Park on Sunday.
John Terry and Oriol Romeu are still on the treatment table.
Fernando Torres has become quiet in the last two games. The Spaniard has improved since the arrival of Rafael Benitez, but his performance in the match against Everton wasn't a sign of a player that is back to the peak.

The visitors
Bobby Zamora, Andy Johnson,J.S. Park and Jose Bosingwa will not be available for selection due to injuries.
Rangers were pummelled 3-0 by Liverpool in their last EPL match on Sunday.
Adel Taarabt and Cisse will surely test the strength of Turnbull in the absence of Petr Cech. Chelsea defenders must be wary of the threat posed by the Moroccan striker.

Quick Facts

• If Frank Lampard can repeat what he did in his last match, the Englishman will become Chelsea's all-time top scorer with 193 goals.
• Juan Mata has contributed to 14 goals in the 16 matches he had played this season.
• Ferdinand and Terry were involved in a racism issue the last time these two sides met.
• With 10 points from 20 matches, QPR are likely to face relegation in four months time.

Kick off: 7.45 PM GMT

Venue: Stamford Bridge,London

 

Our prediction: Chelsea 5-1 QPR

Chelsea vs Stoke preview

Roberto Di Matteo will try to attract a major applause from the fans of the current FA Cup and Champions League holders on Saturday. Chelsea played a two all draw against Juventus in the Champions League after Oscar had given them a two goal lead. The Brazilian got injured after scoring a brace, but he will be expected to play for the Blues. Daniel Sturridge is yet to regain match fitness.

Visitors
Andy Wilkinson begins a three match suspension after accepting a violent conduct charge from the FA.
Stoke City's last win at the Stamford Bridge was in 1974. The 'Potters' will rely on long balls and set pieces in order to score against Chelsea. They forced Manchester City to a 1-1 draw last weekend. Ryan Shawcross, Rory Delap and Peter Crouch are some of their key players. Michael Owen is expected to start from the bench.

Host
John Mikel Obi and Ramires are expected to play in Chelsea's midfield while Fernando Torres will act as the arrowhead of the squad.
Prediction: Chelsea 3-1 Stoke City

UEFA Super cup preview

Chelsea will face Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup match that will be played in monaco on Friday night. The Blues won the UEFA Champions League by beating Bayern Munich on penalties at the Allianz Arena on May 19, 2012.

Roberto Di Matteo might give Victor Moses and Cesar Azpilicueta the chance to make their debut for the club. Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres will surely be on the starting line up against the Europa League champions. Torres was a former Atletico player before he joined Liverpool in 2007.

Atletico Madrid won the Europa League in Bucharest on May 9,2012. Radamel Falcao has warmed up for this game with a hat trick in Monday night's 4-0 bashing of Athletic Bilbao. The Colombian also scored a brace in the Europa League final against this same team.

Chelsea must doing everything possible to stop Falcao if they want to win the Super cup for the first time. Atletico defeated Inter Milan in the 2010 edition.

Time:19:45 UTC
Venue: Monaco

Our prediction
Chelsea 3-2 Atletico

Radamel Falcao

Premier League team of the week.

After a second round of games across English grounds, we have compiled a list of eleven outstanding players from the World's most glamorous soccer league.

1. Al Habsi(Wigan Athletic)
The keeper was very reliable for the Latics after the sale of Victor Moses to Chelsea. The keeper prevented the Saints' attackers from putting the ball in the back of the net for the full 90 minutes. Despite Wigan's dominance of the game, he made some stunning saves to deny Southampton a chance to register their first point of the new league season.

2. Glen Johnson(Liverpool)
The English right back was the cynosure of all eyes in the Liverpool defence as he thwarted many goal attempts of the array of strikers that were paraded by Roberto Mancini. Apart from Tevez's first half effort that cam off the bar, Johnson shielded the defence and none of the two lucky goals scored by Man City came from his wing.

3.Thomas Vermaelen(Arsenal)
The Belgian defender was instrumental to the Gunners' second successive clean sheet against Stoke City at the Britannia stadium.

4.Ashley Cole (Chelsea)
The England left back was consistent in his defensive dtuties in Chelsea's 2-0 win over Newcastle United. He was able to prevent the Senegalese duo of Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse from operating from his wing.

5. John Obi Mikel (Chelsea)
The Nigerian international was outstanding in the defensive midfield role as the Blues cruised to a 2-0 over Alan Pardew's men. He prevented Yohan Cabaye and Hatem Ben Arfa from unleashing terror on his team's back four.

6. Santi Cazorla(Arsenal)
The Spanish international is enjoying a good start to his premier league career. The former Malaga player didn't show any sign of someone that is just settling down in England. He broke up a lot of Stoke's attacks and helped his team to take full control of the game. Begovic made some heroic saves to deny him a goal at the Britannia on Sunday.

7. Shinji Kagawa (Manchester United)
Ex-Borussia Dortmund playmaker, Kagawa was a constant threat in the Fulham defence. He tormented Martin Jol's men and hew as rewarded with a controversial goal that some analysts believed should have been ruled out for an offside positioning. The Japanese international supplied a lot of defence-splitting passes as he propelled United their first win of the season.

8. Michu(Swansea)
Michu scored his third premier league goal in two matches for Swansea. Michael Laudrup's men have now scored eight goals in two outings without conceding a goal. Michu's accurate judgement of the ball and his good ball sense was noticed throughout his team's 3-0 win over West Ham United at the Liberty Stadium.

9. Robin Van Persie (Man United)
The Dutch international and former Arsenal captain announced his arrival at the Old Trafford with a beautiful volley against Fulham on Saturday. Patrice Evra's cross was controlled and volleyed into the top corner of the Fulham net after ten minutes of action.

10. Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
The Belgian international was a tormentor of Newcastle's defence for 90 minutes of play. Hazard was really hazardous to the opponents. His skills and trickery couldn't be matched by any midfielder from Newcastle. He converted a penalty in the first half before providing his sixth assist in two games for Torres o score for Chelsea.

11 Raheem Sterling (Liverpool)
Liverpool played one of their best games in recent times as they were undone by two defensive errors in their game against Manchester City. The 17 year old ex-QPR academy player was a delight to watch for the entire duration of the game. He dribbled the likes of Alex Kolarov and Yaya Toure for a long period of the game. His skills, pace and crosses from the left flank suggested a sign of good things to come for the Jamaican-born starlet. He could have registered his first assist of the EPL, but Fabio Borini missed a glorious chance after Sterling crossed the ball for the Italian striker.

English Premier League review

Sweet Swans
Swansea were fully at home as the Welsh side cruised to a three nil win over West Ham United at the Liberty stadium. Angel Rangel scored the first goal in the 20th minute. His shot bounce under the body of Juusi Jaaskelainen as Michael Laudrup's men triumphed over Sam Allardyce's team.  New signing, Michu scored his third goal of the campaign in the 29th minute after a poor defensive move by a West Ham defender. Danny Graham added the third goal after the restart. Swansea were very delightful to watch as they had 77% of the ball possession. Meanwhile, Matt Jarvis was also impressive for the visitors as he made his debut following his £10 million move from Wolves.

Hazardous Chelsea
 In other games, Chelsea defeated Newcastle United by two unreplied goals at the Stamford Bridge. The reigning Champions League holders finished their business in the first half of the match. Eden Hazard created a lot of hazard for the visitors throughout the encounter. Fernando Torres won a penalty in the 20th minute and Hazard stepped up to slot the ball to the right hand side of Tim Krul. Newcastle struggled to contain the Belgian who orchestrated a well aligned midfield that also comprised of Mikel Obi and Raul Meireles.

Hazard provided a sleek pass to Torres in the closing moments of the first half and the Spaniard finished calmly to seal a third successive premier league win for Roberto Di Matteo's team.

Van Persie's phenomenal finish
Manchester United won their first league win of the season at the Old Trafford stadium. The Reds overcame Martin Jol's Fulham that were without Clint Dempsey who is unsettled at the London club. Damian Duff drew the first blood in the third minute of the game. United reacted to hat early goal in a great fashion. The Red Devils exchanged a lot of accurate passes amongst themselves. Shinji Kagawa and Ashley Young combined well with Van Persie who led the attack in the absence of Rooney who was on the bench. Patrice Evra floated an in-swinger for Van Persie, the former Arsenal goal poacher volleyed the ball into the top corner of the Fulham net to mark his debut at the 'Theatre of Dreams'. Kagawa's controversial goal was allowed to stand while Rafeal added a third goal to make it 3-1 at the end of the first half.

In the second half, Sir Alex Ferguson's men took their foot of the pedal as Wayne Rooney's men came on for Kagawa who was the man of the match. After some minutes of action, Rooney was stretched off as his thigh had a deep cut. The injury will keep him out for the next four weeks.

Other games
Andrea Villas Boas' woes continued at Tottenham. The former Chelsea boss couldn't lead his team to claim all the three points at the White Hart Lane. Spurs struggled to break down West Bromwich Albion's defence for more than an hour of play. The first half ended goalless as the visitors looked solid at the back. In the 75th minute Assou Ekotto gave Tottenham the lead, but his goal was cancelled out in the 90th minute when James Morrison fired the ball home after a sloppy defending by the hosts.

Everton were superb at the Villa Park. The 'Toffees' defeated Aston Villa by 3-1. Paul Lambert's Villa side were very poor and they were lucky not to have lost by a wider margin. Everton took a three nil lead after 45 minutes. Steven Pienaar unleashed a 25 yard shot to give his side the lead inside the opening 10 minutes of the match. Marouane Fellaini made it 2-0 with a good header that came from a corner kick. After the restart, Villa had a man sent off and Distin's header came off the crossbar with the score line at 3-0. The Birmingham based club rallied to score a consolatory goal before the end of the match.

The game between Reading and Sunderland has been postponed till next Tuesday due to a water logged pitch that was caused by a heavy downpour at the Stadium of Light.

Wigan vs Chelsea preview

Wigan Athletic must do more than being athletic when they host Chelsea on Sunday afternoon. The Lactics had to dig deep to avoid relegation last term under the tutelage of Roberto Martinez who almost took over the hot seat at Liverpool during the summer. Victor Moses will have the chance to show Chelsea why they should add to their initial $9million bid for him to join them. Wigan have not defeated Chelsea in their last five league meetings. Arouna Kone and Ryo Miyaichi are the latest arrivals at the DW stadium. Kone is an Ivorian international that joined them from Levante while Ryo is on a season long loan from Arsenal. Daniel Sturridge is a major doubt for the visitors following  his withdrawal from England's team last Wednesday.
Debutants
Marko Marin, Oscar and  Eden Hazard could make their debut for the reigning FA Cup and Champions League winners. The last meeting between the two teams at the DW stadium ended 1-1 in December 2011. Frank Lampard and Juan Mata must also be at their best in order to rekindle the form that made them to score half of Chelsea's goals last season.

This will be Roberto Di Matteo's first full match on the premiership after he was named the permanent manager of the club during the summer. It will be interesting to see how Chelsea will play without Didier Drogba that has joined Shanghai Shenua of China. Fernando Torres will lead the visitors attack.
Kick off: 12:30 UTC on 19/08/2012
Our prediction
Wigan 1-3 Chelsea