As per the new regulations all the clubs have now announced their 25 player squads along with a long list of U-21 players who've been registered so that they are eligible to play in the Premier League just in case. You can see complete details of the squad lists and junior players of all the 20 clubs on the official site.

While discussing the openness of the title race as predicted by Arsene, my thoughts were that the year end table will look like United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, City, and doesn't matter after that. But I wanted to wait till the end of the transfer window before making my predictions for the season.

Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina has spoken out about Javier Mascherano's impact on the club. The Argentine left the club in controversial fashion at the end of the transfer window, and while Barcelona fans are looking forward to seeing him at the Camp Nou, Liverpool are left figuring out how to regroup.

Slovakia have already upset Russia at home which other teams are capable of following their lead?

The Euro 2012 qualifiers are underway, and though it is still early in the process, it is never too early to start making predictions! At this point, most teams have already played two games and its mathematically possible for every team to still qualify.

Tomorrow Chelsea make the trip to Eastlands to take on Manchester City in the biggest game both sides have had to face so far this season. We have had the build up and people have had their say, now it's time to focus on the game itself. With City's defensive problems and Chelsea welcoming back the big guns in our strongest eleven (minus Frank Lampard) the sign's before the game look good for Chelsea.

Premier League team news - Barclays Premier League - ESPN SoccernetManchester City v ChelseaLampard, Kalou and Benayoun are out for Chelsea. Ferreira likely to be back on the bench. Meanwhile, Manchester City face a defensive crisis.Arsenal v West Bromwich AlbionVermaelen and Fabregas are out with Diaby, Rosicky, and Eboue maybes.

Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson is rumoured to be preparing a January bid for CSKA Moscow playmaker Keisuke Honda and has been promised funds to make such a move due to the sales of Javier Mascherano, Albert Riera and Yossi Benayoun during the recent transfer window.
Hodgson had hoped to secure a striker signing before the transfer deadline but failed in his attempts to sign Carlton Cole and Roman Pavlyuchenko but apparently the Anfield manager is also looking to add more creativity to his midfield and is hoping to bring in a player who can supply the ammunition for his threadbare front line.

Took this from another blog, still not in the mood to write:

Gillett: "We have invested more money than our competitors, in keeping with the history of the club"

Hicks: "Our debt is very managable.... and we never use player sales for debt service. The summer window will be big."

Tom Hicks (27 May 2010): "We have no intention of selling any of our top players and we have a substantial transfer budget in place.

Euro 2012 qualifying is back upon us, with Yossi Benayoun protesting the move to Israel's holy Sabbath with an aggressive hat-trick against Malta. This comes after qualifying was initially kicked off back in August as any major tournament should: with Estonia and the Faroe Islands. (The Faroes sadly fell.

Something new for you all. This is the first time I have done this and I am just using a simple webcam. Bear with it, it gets better by the way!
Part one looks at our nightmare pre season, the comings and goings at the club as we build up to our first game against West Brom.
KTBFFH

The Chelsea Daily Drivel is a daily update of all the stories concerning our club, the rumours, the opinions and more....
So here are the Chelsea news updates on Friday 3rd September 2010 including: Could Zhirkov leave Chelsea? Essien puts his international career on hold, Lampard believes teams now fear Chelsea and Benayoun scores plenty for Israel.

Ever since the vote on the UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations there has been an ongoing debate about the impact they'll have on clubs. There seem to be three broad opinions; the new regulations will change the world of football, the new regulations will have some impact, and there will be no impact whatsoever.

Chelsea took the points tonight with an impressive first half display against the plucky Zilina side in Slovakia. With two goals from Nicolas Anelka and one each from Michael Essien and Danny Strurridge, Chelsea cruised to a 4-0 lead on 48 minutes. It looked like we could end up with 5, 6 or maybe 7 but to their credit Zilina kept playing and got the "reward" for their effort via a mistake from Petr Cech who attempted clearance rebounded off of Ivanovic and was tapped home by the Zilina forward on the goal line.

Chelsea v Newcastle United the battle for Champions League football - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Four of the Premier League's most talented strikers go head to head when Chelsea plays Newcastle on Wednesday night. The game will be pivotal to both side's chances of achieving a top four finish.

Tonight Chelsea take on Newcastle in the Carling Cup third round at Stamford Bridge and Carlo Ancelotti has named his youngest ever squad ahead of the game tonight and the question you have to ask is can they keep our 100% record going.
Before the game Carlo said:

"It is a good experience for them to play this kind of game.

One remembers Shola Ameobi as a talented goalscorer before a series of injuries consigned him to the wilderness before he came back last season with some big goals that helped gain promotion for Newcastle. Well he is back and with a bang. Today, he scored two goals including a stoppage time winner against Chelsea in their Carling Cup fixture.

Carlo Ancelotti likes to win. So, too, do I. It is safe to say then that both of us are a tad chafed this evening.

You likely are, too. Unless, that is, you are a Geordie.

Newcastle arrived at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday with a particularly forgettable history round those parts. It had been, after all, 24 years since they had exited the Bridge with a win.

Chelsea went down fighting to Newcastle United in one of those classic matches that only a competition as irrelevant as the Carling Cup can provide. The Toon deservedly won the game 4-3 in what was the most pulsating encounter at the Bridge this season.

Let's get the negatives out of the way first.

According to the ever so (not) reliable Goal.com, Frank Lampard is a major doubt for the Manchester City Chelsea clash after injuring his groin again in training. Bad news for Chelsea as Kalou and Benayoun are also out ... Continue reading →

The Chelsea Daily Drivel is a daily update of all the stories concerning our club, the rumours, the opinions and more....
So here are the Chelsea news updates on Thursday 23rd September 2010 including: Benayoun and Kalou to miss City on Saturday, McEachran's interview today and video of his personal performance against Newcastle last night, Fergie tips Chelsea the two games against us as title deciders, Disney get rid of Chelsea in favour of City and Bruce Buck releases a statement to the Guardian!

Hernia procedures, as it turns out, are no joke.

The recovery for one Super Frank Lampard continues on, with the influential midfielder set to miss a further two weeks at least.

Super Frank. Sad.

This latest development means Lampard not only will be unavailable for our midweek Champions League hosting of Marseille, but, more importantly, will also miss our crucial date with Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on the weekend.

Isn't it funny what a difference a week makes. After being 4-0 up at half time against Blackpool, the second half there, the Newcastle game and then to follow what happened against City, things have taken a dip in our form and performances and I face the game tonight with a tinted outlook.

Carlo Ancelotti is expected to go with a youth movement today against French side Marseille. The double winning coach from last season will be forced to pencil in a lineup without suspended star Didier Drogba today and Frank Lampard, Salomon Kalou and newly acquired Yossi Benayoun will all be out as well due to injuries.

As much as I enjoy that, by now quite old, bit of word play in the title, it was Chelsea who played like a steaming pile of you know what on Saturday. The losing score line of 1-0, away at City is not exactly to start an inquisition, but it did raise a number of questions.