Looking ahead to Newcastle

welcome to my blog....so we look forward to tomorrow's match against newcastle, with chelsea looking to erase memories of 2 weeks ago when we failed to collect any points at three point white hart lane.

3rd from bottom meets 3rd from top

15 places and 32 point seperate the two sides and 2 interim managers face each other in a must win encounter for both sides. Newcastle need to avoid championship football whereas its needless to say chelsea know they need to win all of their next league games to maintain pressure on liverpool and manchester utd.

Much has been made out of Alan Shearer's appointment as newcastle manager, with him being called the new Messiah and all that crap. let me tell u one thing.......managing your first game against Chelsea isnt the best thing to start off your career, especially a chelsea side looking to shake off disappointment and get ready for a tough game against liverpool(more on that in my next blog).

Team News

For Chelsea the best bit of news would be that most of the injured players are back in training and ready for tomorrow. Drogba and Bosingwa will not be available but are due to be ready for liverpool. In defense, Carvalho is fit again and i'd love for him to partner JT again in defense(lets admit it, Alex is good but he does make some really basic errors at times) In midfield Deco has recovered from his hamstring injury earlier than was previously expected and played a n impressive part in Portugal's victory over South Africa in midweek, where he assisted 2 goals! I'd expect Essien and the ever-present Lampard to start and would love to see Quaresma play the full 90 minutes as his cameos have seemed quite impressive. I'd prefer Mikel in place of Ballack and Essien at right back where he has been quite impresive. Kalou should partner Anelka upfront and I really think Stoch should given a chance to impress, albeit as a substitute, as his contribution against Stoke in our 2-1 win was remarkable

Spotlight Blue - Nicolas Anelka
The frenchman has been overshadowed by Drogba's resurgence and tomorrow will be his chance to prove that he isnt the league's leading goal-scorer for nothing. It will be a vital game for him to deliver the goods while Drogba is out and prove that he can be depended upon!!!!

My thoughts
My prediction is a comfortable 3-1 win for Chelsea. The blues have been content with one goal margins since Hiddink took over but i feel they might come out of the blocks firing on all cylinders and take the game to newcastle, plus we need to ensure we keep up with our rivals in terms of goal difference. I am giving one goal to newcastle simply because of the much talked about 'Shearer effect' and the support of the 50000+ Geordies who will be cheering their team on. We are the best away team in the league and i dont think that record will come under threat tomorrow! Go Blues!!