...que tanto Pep Guardiola como los aficionados del Barça estén algo preocupados. A falta de tres días para el trascendental duelo ante el Inter por Champions y a tan sólo una semana del gran clásico, el conjunto culé volvió a dejar puntos fuera de casa y acusó nuevamente la falta de pegada ante la ausencia de Ibrahimovic. Click to continue reading...

English Premier League leaders Chelsea hosted Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday, November 21, 2009. Wolves are struggling and any points at Stamford Bridge would be welcome but probably unrealistic. Here's a recap of the match along with video highlights.

Chelsea beats Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-0 Video Highlights

Chelsea wasted no time putting the match out of reach as they scored three first half goals.

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Taken by me at M&T Bank Stadium. Jealous?

Alright people. Back from what felt like the longest international break in....well, ever, Chelsea will take on Wolves at the Bridge tomorrow, and will do so with what would have to be called a diminished lineup.

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Ok so today we are back to business in the Premier League with one or two players missing but its still, on paper, another win for Chelsea at the Bridge. Lampard, Drogba, Ballack and Deco are missing through injury but Ashley Cole and John Terry are fit to play which is important. The back five are key to stability in the side and with the injuries we have this will be more important than ever. Click to continue reading...

If you're only going to have 5 players play well, make sure they include at least three defenders and the goalkeeper. I'm writing in a vacuum I did have the Setanta commentator who rightly pointed out how poor France were, but I have to say that I thought France were shocking.

Good performances: Sagna, Evra, Gallas, Lloris, Anelka
Poor: Henry, A.

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What the hell is going on with our injuries at the moment. As reported on here before, Jose Bosingwa is out. Ashley Cole is out and we are yet to have confirmation when he will return. Frank Lampard is out for three weeks. Didier Drogba has now been confirmed as out for three weeks with a rib injury suffered when Jonny Evans peformed his Karate Kick on him and got away with it and John Terry had to pull out of the England v Brazil game with an ankle problem but he hopes to be fit to face Wolves next weekend. Click to continue reading...

Frank Lampard today hailed Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba as the best in the world!.
Lampard said:
"Nico has been fantastic all season. Along with Didier they are a great partnership," Lampard said. "He (Anelka) has tremendous pace and balance, particularly when he runs at defenders. Click to continue reading...

Well, well, well. Who knew Florent Malouda was so connected to the world of couture?
We admire his Alexander Wang inspiration. Two snaps and an air kiss for you, luv.

Thanks Corinne! Click to continue reading...

Well, well, well. Who knew Florent Malouda was so connected to the world of couture? We admire his Alexander Wang inspiration. Two snaps and an air kiss for you, luv.

Thanks Corinne! Click to continue reading...

Carlo Ancelotti's side's current form is nothing short of amazing, having amassed 13 goals from their last three games. Chelsea will join Arsenal and Manchester United in the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup after their clinical demolition of Bolton Wanderers at the Stamford Bridge. Deco, Malouda, Drogba and Salomon Kalou were the goal scorers for Chelsea. Click to continue reading...

Arsenal Attack

The Arsenal Gunners impressed last weekend against the Blackburn Rovers. The club would score six goals in the match and the most impressive thing was that not one player would score multiple goals in the match for the squad. Vermaelen, Van Persie (pictured), Arshavin, Fabregas, Walcott, and Bendtner all scored for the Gunners easily making it the most players that have scored for the same team in a game all season.

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News reports today suggest that Saloman Kalou is about to agree a new deal at Chelsea. It's easy to see why Chelsea might be marshalling him towards putting pen to paper, but there's another side to the coin...
When Kalou joined Chelsea back in 2006, he looked a promising player. Perhaps a little inconsistent – especially in the final third – Kalou was at least dynamic, energetic and positive in possession.

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News reports today suggest that Saloman Kalou is about to agree a new deal at Chelsea. It's easy to see why Chelsea might be marshalling him towards putting pen to paper, but there's another side to the coin...
When Kalou joined Chelsea back in 2006, he looked a promising player. Perhaps a little inconsistent – especially in the final third – Kalou was at least dynamic, energetic and positive in possession.

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Won't be winning one of those anytime soon unless he changes his name to Drogba
I've discussed Frank Lampard's lack of goalscoring and fantasy footie production quite frequently over the first two months of the Premier League season - even dropping him from my lineup (for the first time in probably 3 years) two weeks ago. Click to continue reading...

Carlo Ancelotti has refused to write off Liverpool despite helping land a further blow to their title challenge.
Ancelotti led Chelsea to a 2-0 victory over their championship rivals at Stamford Bridge yesterday.
Goals from former Anfield striker Nicolas Anelka and substitute Florent Malouda sent Liverpool tumbling to their third defeat in just eight Premier League games this season. Click to continue reading...

In England, Liverpool is beaten 2-0 by a powerful Chelsea side which moves to the top of the Premiership.
In Italy, Italian champions Inter Milan move to the top of the Serie A beating Udinese 2-1 with a late winner by Sneijder in stoppage time.
In Spain, Real Madrid is taken down by Sevilla 2-1, while Barcelona struggle with Almeira winning 1-0 with Pedro scoring. Click to continue reading...

That was hard to take.
Matching Chelsea stride for stride all throughout the match, never second best in the game. Yet we end up losing 2-0.
We looked comfortable all the way through this game until Didier Drogba whipped in a ball for Anelka to score and it was 1-0.
Still we never panicked, kept our shape and composure, without really threatening a strong Chelsea defence. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez believes his side can still challenge for the title despite going down 2-0 at Chelsea to suffer their third defeat of the season.
Nicolas Anelka opened the scoring on the hour mark before Florent Malouda made the game safe with Didier Drogba creating both goals for the hosts. Click to continue reading...

What did Big Phil do to those guys? For a long time say, from the latter days of Mourinho through the start of the Hiddink Intercession the Chelsea dressing room was a hive of choler and pique. The players visibly didn't like each other, didn't trust their manager (whoever he happened to be), and generally had the air of passengers who have all privately concluded that the ship they are on is sinking as they eye the exits and edge toward the only lifeboat.

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11am, live in the US on FSC
Last 4 head-to-head:
4-4 (a; CL) 04.14.09
1-3 Chelsea (h; CL) 04.08.09
2-0 Liverpool (h) 02.01.09
1-0 Liverpool (a) 10.26.08
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 0-2 Fiorentina (a); 6-1 Hull (h); 1-0 Leeds (a)
Chelsea: 1-0 APOEL (a); 1-3 Wigan (a); 1-0 QPR (h)
Goalscorers (league):
Liverpool: Torres 8; Benayoun, Gerrard, Kuyt 3; Babel, Johnson 2; Ngog 1
Chelsea: Drogba 6; Ballack 3; Anelka, A Cole 2; Deco, Lampard, Malouda 1
Referee: Martin Atkinson
Guess at a squad:
Reina
Johnson Skrtel Carragher Aurelio
Lucas Mascherano
Kuyt Gerrard Benayoun
Torres
The sooner Tuesday's forgotten the better. Click to continue reading...

Yes, we didn't get to see any of Chelsea's young talent beyond Borini and Hutchinson. Yes, Chelsea's starting XI was filled with eight full internationals. Yes, it was only one nil and, to be fair to the hoops, Chelsea did need to bring on Lampard, Terry and Ashley Cole to make sure of the result.

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Yes, we didn't get to see any of Chelsea's young talent beyond Borini and Hutchinson. Yes, Chelsea's starting XI was filled with eight full internationals. Yes, it was only one nil and, to be fair to the hoops, Chelsea did need to bring on Lampard, Terry and Ashley Cole to make sure of the result.

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- The cutting-edge QPR Report Messageboard: Visit - even post on - the combination quasi-blog and messageboard for additional up-to-the-minute news about QPR, combined with QPR nostalgia and even occasional general football items.
- QPR REPORT Available on TWITTER! Click to continue reading...

Darren Bent

Sunderland received a wonderful gift when they acquired Darren Bent in a transfer deal. The forward has been among the best transfers of any top level squad and this weekend he proved why once again. Bent scored two goals in the club's 4-1 win over Hull City and the forward would score in both halfs of play.

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Stoke City may be a small club, but that never seems to faze them when they walk out in front of the crowd at The Britannia. Saturday was no different.

Chelsea was visiting, and they brought their undefeated record with them, too. Stoke was ready for a battle, though. It's pretty hard to describe how different Stoke is as a team when they are playing at home.

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Delap: Stoke City's Wild Card

Stoke City vs Chelsea FC at the Britannia Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent, 3pm local time. Conditions: pitch good, weather fine.

Line-ups

Chelsea: Cech, A Cole, Terry, Ivanovic, Bosingwa, Ballack, Malouda, Kalou, Mikel, Lampard, Drogba

Stoke City: Sorenson (Simonsen), Faye, Collins, Huth, Higginbotham, Delap, Shawcross, Etherington, Whelan, Kitson (Tuncay), Beattie (Fuller)

1st Half

Stoke, playing five at the back, begin marking the ball closely.

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Abou Diaby: Serbia attack's most dangerous weapon?

This upcoming weekend will be filled with World Qualifiers up until Tuesday so I will not comment much on Le Championnat from last weekend that saw a very disappointing 0 – 0 between Marseille and Bordeaux, a very convincing 3 - 0 win by PSG against Lille, St Etienne's first 3 points versus a sad Grenoble and more Lyon magic thanks to Lisandro Lopez (ARG), Gomis (FRA) and Bastos (BRA).

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Tough fixture. That's all that really needs to be said about today's trip to Sunderland.

Steve Bruce's renovation project looks solid. And, following a rugged 1-0 result at Bolton to begin the season, the Stadium of Light is certain to be frantic for the the Cats' home opener.

Chelsea, meanwhile, will be looking to improve upon a last-second victory at home to Hull City on Saturday.

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I am pretty sure every football fan in England knows by now that Chelsea are playing 4-4-2 diamond formation under Carlo Ancelotti as the Italian believe it to be the perfect fit for Chelsea players at the moment. This has given the Italian an opportunity to partner Anelka and Drogba up front, but while everybody believed Ballack to be the natural fit for the tip of the diamond, Ancelotti opted for Frank Lampard.

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The BBC has a very interesting piece about where the crop of 2009-10 Premier League footballers are from compared to where the 1989-90 class of players were born. What is particularly telling is the percentage of players from outside the UK in today's game. The BBC has a high quality interactive map to illustrate the increasingly global influence on the Premier League.

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What can you say about a match like that?

France kept a clean sheet.

Gignac scored a nice goal.

France controlled the match and created a lot of chances, but by conceding free kicks, they also gave Faroe Islands chances to score, and it could have been a disaster.

But it wasn't.

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Last time France landed in Faroe, they barely made it safely to the ground but still managed to score six goals in a 2007 Euro qualifier. But that was before the disaster of Euro 2008 and the pathetic beginnings of their World Cup qualifying campaign. Les Bleus now trail Serbia in UEFA Group Seven.

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Chelsea ended last season winning the FA Cup after falling just short in the Premier and Champions League. They have opened this season with a Community Shield win over Manchester United and look stronger by not being weaker. Despite having ridiculous sums of money thrown at him, John Terry has - for now - spurned Manchester City to stay. Click to continue reading...

1 – Liverpool
2 – Chelsea
3 – Manchester United
4 – Manchester City
5 – Arsenal
6 – Aston Villa
7 – Everton
8 – Tottenham
9 – Fulham
10 – Sunderland
11 – West Ham
12 – Wigan
13 – Birmingham
14 – Blackburn
15 – Bolton
16 – Hull
17 – Portsmouth
18 – Wolverhampton
19 – Stoke
20 – Burnley
I'll take the blame if I jinx it. Click to continue reading...

Gallery, Images, Photos and Pictures of Chelsea v Manchester United, Community Shield, August 2009. Includes Frank Lampard, John Terry, Patrice Evra, Didier Drogba, Ricardo Carvalho, Ben Foster, Petr Cech, Dimitar Berbatov, Nani, Darren Fletcher, Ji-Sung Park, Florent Malouda, Michael Carrick, Ashley Cole and Wayne Rooney. Click to continue reading...