Friday 23 September 2011

Swansea vs Chelsea: Another week, another glamour tie

Continuing the pattern of 'winnable game at home, tough game on the road', this Saturday the Swans take on Chelsea: last season's Premier League runners-up, consistent Champions League qualifiers and a starting eleven including a host of World Class international players, all dying to put a big score on the men in white (or bright orange).

Last week we finally saw a goal (make that three) in the Liberty Stadium, which did wonders in settling the nerves of players, management and fans alike. Had a goal not been scored, things may be looking a little bleak against Chelsea. Thankfully Leroy Lita stepped up well and put away his first chance, contributing to Nathan Dyer's goal and generally menacing West Brom's back four. But with Danny Graham fit again, this throws us straight onto the question: who to start up front?

While Graham does need a confidence-boosting goal, is Stamford Bridge the place he'll find it? If he starts and again fails to score, will his fifth goalless game mean another dent in his confidence? Having said that, maybe the pressure is off him now that the first goals have been scored and he is not expected to to score this week. All a little confusing this psychology business isn't it...?

Leroy Lita was a stand-out player against West Brom, so should he start again? His presence on the field against West Brom was reminiscent of a thug you may see strutting around Wind Street on a Friday night. Lita constantly looks like he's after a fight, so I say let him fight! His first attempt on goal was clinically put away, which was a breath of fresh air after the 'almost there mate' few games that Graham has had. Start Lita again – if he doesn't perform, bring Graham on towards the end of the game.

The midfield (bar Sinclair and Dyer) is the other area that poses selection problems. The first start for Joe Allen against West Brom was great to see – he worked hard (running 13.25 km in the West Brom game, a season high for a Swans player) and maybe deserves to take the field on Saturday. Who should line up next to him? With Leon Britton on top form, Wayne Routledge back in action and Mark Gower spraying a nice array of passes in the last game, as well as Stephen Dobbie still looking to make his mark, Brendan Rodgers is spoilt for choice.

A question mark remains over Neil Taylor's fitness after the Odemwingie clash, but Bessone may prove to be a decent temporary replacement. Hungarian defender Zoltan Liptak (I'm sure that's a brand of sunblock...) is on trial with the club after leaving Videoton (and I'm sure that's a DVD rental shop in Brynhyfryd...), but he probably won't feature. He adds enough height at the back (6ft 4in) so could be another decent one for the future

If Taylor remain questionable, my team to play Chelsea would be:

Vorm
Rangel Monk Williams Bessone
Dyer Britton Routledge Allen Sinclair
Lita


Scott Sinclair will want to show Chelsea what they missed out on, while Brendan Rodgers will also want to have a great game against the club he played a management role in. Frank Lampard will play against the team he scored his first professional goal against, during his stint with the Swans in 1995. Recent history lesson over.

We know Chelsea are a danger. Despite Torres being incredibly light on goals, he's a world class player, a Spanish national and has incredible skill at his disposal. Whether or not he will use any of it against Swansea remains to be answered, though he is a big threat for Ashley Williams and co., not forgetting the likes of Didier Drogba, Juan Mata and Nicholas Anelka.

They've already bagged a series of good results and currently sit 3rd in the table. Come on, you've seen them play plenty of times – you don't need me to tell you they are a quality side, if lacking that cutting edge recently.

My prediction? I can't realistically see Chelsea losing this (Swansea are 13/1 to win). If Chelsea are planning to make anything of this Premier League season they must win against the less established teams. However, I do see Swansea putting up a similar fight like the game against Arsenal. I'll say 3-1 to Chelsea (9/1), though it wouldn't be impossible for Swansea to walk away with one point, which would be a massive success (only topped by a win!).

3 comments:

  1. Nice blog, Chris! I've gone with 3-1 too, but I can't believe it's at 9/1! Mad odds. Clearly the bookies are more confident in us...

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  2. Good post!

    Surprised that we're at longer odds for this match than the City game at the start of the season (I think we were at 9/1 then?), especially with us gaining our first win last week and Chelsea being not _too_ impressive with their performances. I agree with you on the scoreline though, either 2 or 3-1.

    I also agree with starting Lita, he'll be in high confidence after West Brom and I'd prefer to see Graham start against Stoke next week - much taller and bigger to cope with Stoke's back line, whereas Lita adds a little bit extra pace to challenge Chelsea's back line.

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  3. excellent again Chris. I'm a fool, so I'm gonna take the 13-1 for a win + a 2-1 scoreline. If that comes in I'll be buying!

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