Blimey, we’re at the back end of an incredibly tough run of games aren’t we?
Citeh and Liverpool and now Man U and Chelsea, followed by Leicester.
But this is a good thing, I reckon, as we’re getting them out of the way, leading to “easier” games over the next few weeks.
I say easier, but we all know there’s no such thing in the Premier league and I should probably more accurately say that if we can get past the top sides without a drubbing, it’ll just re-emphasise the point in my last post that we don’t need to fear anyone.
And I really don’t see us getting a drubbing anywhere, because we create far too many problems for the opposition.
Simply put, I see this as very much a similar scenario to the Man Utd game, where we have nothing to be worried about and Dean Smith will take it to them.
There is of course the Tammy Abraham thing and you might want to put some money on him scoring against us. That’s if he plays.
And squad news tells us that Tammy faces a last minute fitness check, as he’s very close to playing.
What odds he makes it, even as a sub and gets one?
Ross Berkeley is out through illness and while I really rate him, I don’t think he’s really hit the highs he should have. His loss is a plus for our midfield though.
Antonio Rudiger is at least a week away from playing.
As for us, El Ghazi is out after jarring his knee, which caused him to go off at Man U.
Jota is back in the squad after his hernia op, but you’d suspect it’s too soon for him.
Davis and Steer are out.
Prediction time then and while I’m not as confident as I was against Man Utd, I definitely think we can get something, if all goes well.
Chelsea have averaged 2 goals a game up to now and with our defence, I’d expect them to keep that up.
Consider though that Tammy has scored 10 of their 28 goals.
And then compare that to the fact that we don’t have a single player in the top 25 scorer’s chart.
This makes things very interesting, in that we have options all over and having one player out doesn’t seem to affect us much.
Maybe my tending to side with the “Wesley isn’t the answer” argument isn’t so justified as it might seem?
That is, while a top notch striker who can get us 20+ goals would be the icing on the cake; not having one perhaps isn’t quite the problem it might immediately seem?
Surely there has to be some debate about that point?
Chelsea also concede too and indeed have only conceded two less than us.
Which again makes things interesting.
We all know it’s about fine lines in the Prem, where you can consistently perform quite well, but not quite have enough to get the required points for survival and having genuinely competed in the vast majority of our games so far, it would seem this is our biggest concern.
I strongly suspect this will be another one of those games, where we compete, but ultimately don’t get the result.
My heart says another 2-2, but I think the reality is more likely a 1-2 defeat.
That’s not a bad prediction though if you consider where Chelsea are in the league and they’re established top end etc..
But I also think with a really good wind behind us, we might actually pinch it.
It certainly wouldn’t be unknown in what seems the weakest overall Premier league I’ve seen in ages.
Looks like 2-1 looked a good call from Hitch.
Tbf Badger also called it as 2-1
Southampton winning makes the 21st a VP a massive game!
That was so close!!!
The header I mean… Good game, not great but we play some good stuff. It’s like we’re learning our trade all over again.
I know Mings can fluff, but I love the way he owns his mistakes and gets on with shit. Well chuffed to have someone like him at the Villa. That late headed, if it would have gone in, would have been fantastic.
And I really don’t like Mason Mount.
Agree with the Mason Mount comment 🙂
Our away stats are nothing short of disgraceful!
That’s 9 straight defeats playing in London and something like seven on the bounce against Chelsea. In fact we’ve only beaten Chelsea once in a fistful of games (home and away).
Only 1 win in 25 away games (PL) and that against Norwich this season.
And no wins against established top six sides in 20 games (home and away)
It’s really no good saying ‘we competed’ – it’s points that count.
Hitch
You are very harsh on our record. Virtually all of that was achieved under Learners reign when he wanted to sell and bought us second and third rate players who helped get us relegated.
I’d rather view it that we lost at Spurs first match back and that was partly down to a lack of nouse. Arsenal threw away and should have had a penalty. Chelsea were better but did not blow us away.
We now have the infrastructure. If in Premiership next year we will win away in London and beat a top 6 side of two.
Fair enough Sid but our poor away record and results against the top EPL sides goes back a long way. For instance 42 games against Manure, home and away with one single win 10 years ago.
For me, I’m just stating facts and I think you’d be hard pressed to find a worse record in the EPL.
I think we got overrun tonight. The game should have been out of sight but at 2-1 it made for a nervous end for Chelsea.
I wish we had an alternative to Wesley but we look like having to wait till January until we can solve the problem. Unfortunately it’s not the best time to get the player we want and will cost a king’s ransom!
Putting things in perspective though, we aren’t being embarrassed like we were last time in the premier league.
With Deano at the helm I’m confident he is building a good squad. Okay, we might pick up some duds along the way but most of his acquisitions have shown promise in their first season in the premier league.
I thought we improved when Hourihane was withdrawn for Luiz. I much prefer when playing away a midfield of Marvellous and Luiz, with Hourihane as an impact sub. At home I’d play one of our two holding midfielders and play Hourihane.