So like I said, City are favorites. With Negredo, Silva and Fernandino combining with finesse it seems like a forlorn conclusion as to who is going to take the honors in that impregnable fortress called City of Manchester stadium. Let’s now talk about a stronger shade of the Man City colors. The Blues from Chelsea continue to make headlines for all the off-the-field drama. Since they didn’t make headlines buying a Van Persie or Lionel Messi, they made headlines over the sale of their Player of the year for two years in a row who, apparently, didn’t quite impress the manager enough. Chelsea have a lot of stories to tell this year too. But they have kept a healthy number three position in the league waiting for someone to slip. Chelsea have been the most consistent team with a little blip in the middle. They have won the matches they had to win and drawn the ones they had to draw. They are very much in contention for the title in all the major tournaments and Jose has managed his troops well.
Chelsea needed a leader with a strong spine for a long time now. Someone who cannot get bossed by the senior players in the team and also has the balls to stand upto the owner and say “Sir, the results are for you to see.” He may have sacrificed Mata but he hasn’t fallen off favor from the crowd. They still love him and even though Chelsea seem to be grinding their way to a win every time they are on field, they still seem to know how to win. Hazard has been spectacular this season. Oscar has emerged as the number 10 that his manager wanted him to be. His performances have to be good each time because close to his heels comes his Brazilian teammate, Willian. Put these three guys on the pitch or alter one of them with a committed man like Schurrle or the newer replacement, whenever he is ready, Salah, the supply to the box has been something of a guarantee. Chelsea should have made it to the Guinness book of records for the highest number of times the ball has hit the post in one season. All in all if there is one team in the league that can shock City that is Chelsea.
I can safely predict how the game is going to go tonight. City are going to come out and go blast from the time the ref even puts his mouth to the whistle. Chelsea are going to play Cahill and Terry/Luiz (I am tempted to say Terry but Jose knows best) who will be doing most of the work in the starting 15 mins. The ever faithful Obi Mikel is going to be at the midst of things acting as the third central defender ably assisted by the superior Ivanovic and Azpili (I predict no Cole for tonight). Ramires will be in the middle picking a yellow card for the team. All the blue players will be playing closer to the box of the stronger Blue with Eto’ and Hazard just off the centre line. Chelsea are going to counter with speed and guile and Torres showed in Stamford Bridge that could be done. The key to this entire battle is going to be intercepting and marking Yaya Toure. If that man can be restricted there will be a huge difference to the game. Overall it is going to be a thrilling encounter. The team with the stronger mental strength is going to come out winning.
Having said all this I will be glued to the screen watching every minute of this. After all if Chelsea does beat City, who would wanna miss that???
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