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Norwich v CHELSEA: Preview

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Venue: Carrow Road

Date: Saturday, 21 January

Kick-off: 1245 GMT

 

Eleven points away from the top of the table, so we might be relieved that it’s a trip to Carrow Road today. Mind you, it is an early kick-off so we’ll just have to hope that doesn’t throw our players too far out of kilt.

Not that Norwich will necessarily be a walk in the park anyway – we’ve blown no-one away for a while and actually, they haven’t exactly rolled over themselves.  But if we’re going to keep clawing in some points then today has to be regarded as one of the better opportunities to do that, so let’s hope we do just that.

 

 

MANAGERS’ VIEWS

Going into today’s early kick-off, Norwich boss Paul Lambert says “We are playing one of the best teams in Europe, but we had a really good game against them at Stamford Bridge in August and we’ll give it everything we’ve got to try and win.  They are a top, top side but we’re at home so we’ll try to go out there and win.  The confidence has never wilted here. The crowd will be buoyant and they will be expecting a good game. Chelsea are a top side but we’ve earned the right to play them.”

Andre Villas-Boas meanwhile, says “It’s a great pleasure when teams achieve something with a certain style.  Victories are important for motivation, the way they play is very positive, they are fully motivated players with complete commitment to their manager and each other.  They have had an excellent run of results, and they continue to surprise established teams in the league, which shows the value of the work Paul and his team are doing.  We need to find consistency in our own performances, it will be better if we beat Norwich, but I don’t care what happens in the other matches this weekend, we need to do our own job first and foremost.”

 

 

SQUAD NEWS

For Norwich, Rudd (knee) is out and Vaughan, Ward (both knee) and Tierney (groin) are all back in training but not yet ready for a return.

For Chelsea, Mikel (hamstring) is out although Ivanovic returns, Essien is also back in contention after his return last week and new signing Gary Cahill could make his debut although is unlikely to start.

 

 

TEAMS

NORWICH (from): Ruddy, Martin, Whitbread, Ayala, Naughton, Johnson, Tierney, Fox, Pilkington, Crofts, Surman, Hoolahan, Morison, Jackson, Holt, Steer, Drury, Bennett, Wilbraham, Tierney, Lappin, Barnett.

CHELSEA (from): Cech, Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Luiz, Cahill, Cole, Romeu, Lampard, Ramires, Essien, Mata, Malouda, Meireles, Torres, Sturridge, Lukaku, Turnbull.

 

 

LAST MEETING

Chelsea 3-1 Norwich (27th August 2011)

 

 

PREDICTION

A routine away win for us today maybe? Unlikely there’ll be anything routine about it given our inconsistencies this season to be honest.  Given our haul of cards so far this season, it could well be a case of racking up more bookings than goals in this one although our saving grace could be the Canaries’ apparent inability to keep clean sheets.

 

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