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20/10/2017

3 Key Battles That Could Decide Chelsea’s Fate Against Watford on Saturday

The Blues face up to a Watford side on Saturday who are full of confidence following their impressive start to the season and, most recently, their victory over Arsenal last weekend.

Conte has a list of injury problems to deal with, and Watford are a threat not to be taken lightly, especially after slip ups in the past two league fixtures against Manchester City and Crystal Palace.

Here are three key battles on the field that could define Saturday’s Premier League encounter.

3. Cesc Fabregas vs Tom Cleverley

The midfield battle will be where the game is won and lost.

Chelsea’s inability to get results in their last two Premier League outings has come down to being outplayed in the middle of the park, and being unable to press.

Tom Cleverley and Cesc Fabregas are the playmakers for the two sides, who will be looking to distribute the passes to the forwards.

Both players have a goal and an assist to their name already this campaign and will be the heartbeat to any attacking opportunities, especially on the counter-attack.

2. Richarlison vs Cesar Azpilicueta

The Brazilian forward has been a breath of fresh air for the Hornets this season and will be a real threat for the Chelsea back line on Saturday.

Azpilicueta will be occupying the right centre-back role and is most likely to be facing up against the winger, but the Spaniard has been not him usual self this season, struggling in recent games, especially on Wednesday night for Roma’s first goal.

Richarlison will look to take advantage of this and look to expose the Chelsea defence who will likely be changed once again following the injury of David Luiz.

1. Alvaro Morata vs Christian Kabasele

Chelsea should have their talisman Alvaro Morata back this weekend for the first time in the league since Manchester City, when he picked up a hamstring injury.

Whether the Spaniard will be back to full fitness is yet to be seen but Chelsea have lacked threat in front of goal and he will offer that.

He will be up against the Belgian defender Christian Kabasele who is most likely going to retain his place in the side. Whilst in the side Watford have kept two clean sheets from the eight games this term. It’s certainly going to be a tough afternoon for the pair.

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20/10/2017

Chelsea vs Watford Preview: Classic Encounter, Team News, Predictions & More

Chelsea host Watford at Stamford Bridge in Saturday’s early kick-off, with the visitors coming into the game full of confidence following last weekend’s result against Arsenal.

The Hornets beat Arsenal 2-1 at Vicarage Road thanks to Troy Deeney’s penalty and an injury-time Tom Cleverley strike. ?

In contrast, the Blues haven’t won in three games, following back-to-back defeats in the Premier League to Manchester City and Crystal Palace.

They managed to grab a draw on Wednesday night against Roma after surrendering a two-goal lead, before clawing their way back to come away with a point.

Classic Encounter

The two sides met in the middle of May last season, on a Monday night when the title had already been won a few days before thanks to Michy Batshuayi’s effort at West Brom.

It was a game that didn’t matter too much but regardless of that, seven goals were scored as Chelsea came out as winners, sealing a 4-3 victory in the closing minutes.

The home side begun the goal fest through then captain John Terry, who scored what proved to be his final goal for the club. However, less than two minutes later that was all undone. Terry’s miscued header fell straight to Etienne Capoue, who levelled the scores up.

Conte and his side rallied on and scored two unanswered goals through Cesar Azpilicueta and Batshuayi to put Chelsea in a comfortable position.

Watford weren’t done there though, and they fought back once again two minutes after Batshuayi scored through defender Daryl Janmaat and the visitors equalised with just over 15 minutes to go through substitute Stefano Okaka.

However, the turnaround was brief as Cesc Fabregas came on as a substitute and scored the deciding goal to add three more points to Chelsea’s points tally.

Team News

Chelsea have a whole host of injuries, with central midfield pair N’Golo Kante and Danny Drinkwater still out. David Luiz, who played in Kante’s role on Wednesday night against Roma, is a doubt for Saturday after picking up a calf problem.

Antonio Conte also confirmed that Tiemoue Bakayoko has suffered pain in his groin, adding to the club’s injury problems.

Victor Moses is out following an injury at Selhurst Park last Saturday so Zappacosta is likely to retain his spot.

Marco Silva will be without former Blue Nathaniel Chalobah after his summer move as the midfielder recovers from an operation after fracturing his kneecap.

Hornets defensive duo Sebastian Prodl and Younes Kaboul are doubts with hamstring and knee problems respectively. Craig Cathcart is also carrying a knee injury.

Predicted Chelsea XI: Courtois; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Cahill; Alonso, Bakayoko, Fabregas, Moses; Hazard, Pedro, Morata.

Predicted Watford XI: Gomes; Kabasele, Mariappa, Britos; Femenia, Doucoure, Cleverley, Holebas; Pereyra, Gray, Richarlison.

Prediction

It’s been a tough few weeks for Conte and his men domestically but they’ll be looking to bounce back this weekend.

Watford come into this sitting higher in the table than Chelsea, who currently sit fifth in the Premier League. Despite it being very early on, the game will be a close affair, with the away side looking to put Chelsea on the back foot.

The Hornets only league defeat so far this season came against Manchester City, who also beat Chelsea recently.

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??Injuries for both Conte and Silva make the match even more challenging but with the way Watford are performing at the moment, the lack of squad depth Chelsea have, and Morata only just coming back from injury, it could be honours even.

Prediction: Chelsea 1-1 Watford

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20/10/2017

Picking the Best Potential Chelsea Lineup to Face Watford on Saturday

?Chelsea have been hit with a few injuries in recent weeks, and yet again they will be without key players for their game this weekend against Watford.

Absentees were obvious in their enthralling 3-3 draw with Roma on Wednesday night in the Champions League, with David Luiz, Gary Cahill and Tiemoue Bakayoko picking up knocks.

Here’s how Conte could shape his squad for Watford on Saturday.

Goalkeeper

Courtois13

Courtois has started every league game in goal for the Blues this campaign so he will retain his spot.?

Defence

Azpilicueta28
Christensen27
Cahill24

?Cahill picked up a knock to his head during the game against Roma but it was only minor so he looks set to start in the back three. Meanwhile, Azpilicueta hasn’t had the best starts to the season and despite below par performances from the Spaniard he is likely to start for Chelsea.

The youngster Andreas Christensen had a tough night on Wednesday against Roma but with Luiz picking up another injury and likely to be out, alongside a few others, the 21-year-old will probably be called upon.

Midfield

Zappacosta21
Bakayoko14
Fábregas4
Alonso3

Victor Moses is still out with an injury so Davide Zappacosta will continue to play on the right hand side with Marcos Alonso on the left.

N’Golo Kante is still missing for the Blues alongside Danny Drinkwater. The only two established midfielders in the side who are available are Cesc Fabregas and Tiemoue Bakayoko. Despite the Frenchman suffering pain in his groin, he should recover in time for Saturday.?

Forwards

Pedro11
Morata9
Hazard10

?Alvaro Morata is returning to full fitness after starting against Roma and will rejoin the Premier League squad, bringing much needed goals and attacking threat, something which they lacked at Selhurst Park.

Pedro should come back in for Willian, with the Brazilian not performing at his best in the last few games, so the Spaniard should get the opportunity to prove himself on Saturday.

Finally, Eden Hazard. Scoring two goals for the Blues on Wednesday showed how important he is for Conte.

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19/10/2017

Bilbao Defender Aymeric Laporte Reveals Summer Talks With Premier League Giants

?Athletic Bilbao defender Aymeric Laporte has revealed that he held talks with Premier League giants Manchester City and Chelsea over a possible transfer during the summer.

Since making his Bilbao debut back in 2012, the former French youth international has rapidly become one of the highest rated centre backs in Europe. However, while receiving plenty of plaudits, Laporte has not yet been the subject of a big money move to one of Europe’s elite. Although, it now appears that is not for the want of teams trying.

As quoted by ?CalcioMercato, Laporte revealed in an interview with French newspaper L’Equipe that he turned down an offer from Manchester City over the summer.

He said: “I had the chance to leave but I did not feel it, also because I was injured and did not want to leave.”

Reports also suggested that City were not the only Premier League club to have shown interest in Laporte, with Chelsea also apparently keen on the 23-year-old. However, Laporte remained somewhat coy on the Premier League champions.

“Chelsea’s interest? I can not say anything, it’s a personal thing,” he added.

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Laporte has made 189 appearances for Bilbao, and in June 2016 signed a contract extension with Athletic to keep him at San Mames until 2020, with an initial buyout clause reported to in the region of €65m.

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19/10/2017

Charlie Adam Hits Out at Chelsea Over Developments of Ex-Players Salah & De Bruyne

Stoke midfielder Charlie Adam has drawn parallels with the development of Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne in their time away from Chelsea, hitting out at the Premier League champions development plans.

The part-time pundit was puzzled as to how the London club let such quality players slip through their grasp.

“It’s strange to see that somebody like Salah who struggled at Chelsea and then went to Roma,” Adam told BBC Radio 5 Live, as quoted by Squawka,

“He did great there. He came back and he has been a totally different player. It happened with Kevin De Bruyne. He left Chelsea and went to Wolfsburg. He came back to the Premier League and he has been a totally different player.

“It’s great to see these players come back to the Premier League and show the quality they have.”

Both players have had exceptional starts to the 2017/18 campaign, and have become integral players for Liverpool and Man City.

Salah, who joined Liverpool in the summer for around €40m from Roma, was never given a true chance to showcase his skills at Stamford Bridge, but has since flourished, initially in the Italian capital and now at Anfield.

Kevin De Bruyne has arguably been the best midfielder in the Premier League this season. He too had a poor stint at Chelsea, before being famously exiled by Jose Mourinho to Wolfsburg.

Add to this list Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku, the Premier League’s top scorer currently, and it becomes an even more worrying selection of players who have slipped through the Chelsea cracks.

This becomes even more relevant when you take into consideration Chelsea’s current squad depth, with key injuries currently highlighting the Champion’s shallowness in crucial areas of the pitch.

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You can’t help but wonder how good their team could be, if they had given these clearly talented players more time to develop under their roof instead of offloading them to pastures new so early in their careers.

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