A few notes from around the club today, including the signing of another young talent (as seen below).

Window shopping

Mikel to be fit for Saturday, Lampard likely
• After some seven weeks on the shelf, John Obi Mikel is finally ready to resurface.

Captain Cuddles John Terry must have thought yesterday was going to be a dream afternoon for him. Three points against Manchester United, plus the perfect opportunity to put his new PR campaign into action. An unsuspecting Ramires was the bemused recipient of the former England captain's affection as JT addressed his race relations isses with [.

What was a dream at 3-0 quickly morphed into a nightmare near full time for the Chels, as Manchester United with a helping hand from good friend Howard Webb clawed back to secure a 3-3 draw in a breathless encounter at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Yeah, that's a difficult result to accept.

Two goals within the first five minutes of the start of the second half gave Chelsea a 3-0 lead over Manchester United at Stamford Bridge. That used to be an insurmountable advantage, but not anymore. Referee Howard Webb awarded Man United two penalties in an 11-minue span that Wayne Rooney put away before substitute Chicharito made it 3-3 with a header in the 84th minute.

Manchester United head into Sunday's fixture at Stamford Bridge off the back of three consecutive victories in the Premier League and an opportunity to back on level points with City.

Penalties from Javier Hernandez and Dimitar Berbatov either side of half time on transfer deadline day lead Manchester United on their way to 3 points as Manchester City were being beat at Everton thanks to a strike from former Red Devil Darron Gibson.

Ahead of this afternoon's game against Chelsea, Darren Mantle from CFCNet has taken the time to talk to us on all things Chelsea.

Scott the Red: Does your current league position match with your expectations at the start of the season or had you been anticipating a serious title challenge from Chelsea?

Big game at the Bridge on Super Sunday. Personnel decisions are likely to play a significant role in the outcome. So, let's channel our inner Andre Villas-Boas and sort this one out.

Cool? Cool.

I see you.

Andre Villas-Boas faces all kinds of issues entering our match against Manchester United.

It's a massive game on Sunday and two sides in contrasting situations. Chelsea are not playing as well as we would like to see them playing and are still struggling to create chances and feed Fernando Torres. We find ourselves 12 points behind United.
United, with plenty of injuries are still picking up vital wins and are now back on level par with City.

The club's official betting partner, 188BET, is offering all Chelsea FC fans the chance to chat live with Ramires.
Chelsea FC's Brazilian international midfielder will be taking over 188BET's Twitter account to answer fans' questions during a special live interview on Thursday 2nd February 2012.

To the Liberty Stadium! Huzzah!

What could have been

By all accounts, this is going to be a difficult fixture. Face facts, we're playing poorly at the moment, and unfortunately hung up on numbers. Despite our medical staff's best efforts, we're shorthanded and facing the very real prospect of losing another face or two come Tuesday night?

By FRANCO PANIZO

Chelsea is looking for a better second half of the season in the Premiership, and it is hoping the signing of an attacking midfielder will help them do that.

Chelsea is set to sign Kevin De Bruyne from Belgian club RC Genk on a five-year deal.

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The other match with a potentially explosive racial overtones was effectively nipped in the bud as the FA decided to do away with handshakes pre-empting Anton Ferdinand's contemplated threat not to shake John Terry's hand. The Chelsea captain begins his legal challenge on Feb 1st defending against charges of a racist verbal assault on Ferdinand in their last match on Oct 23rd.

It wasn't pretty. Hell, it was downright hideous. But it's a win, one that puts us in the fifth-round draw. Hey, that's good enough for this guy.

A united front

I guess we should have expected this. All the hype, all the controversy it simply overstated what was bound to be on display at Loftus Road on Saturday.

We of course don't have the official prognosis yet, but on the strength of quotes from both the player and Andre Villas-Boas it looks like we may have dodged a massive bullet.

Worrying moments

Ramires went down in serious pain during the second half of today's FA Cup fourth-round tie at Loftus Road against Queens Park Rangers.

By Alan Duffy

Considering all the pre-match hype concerning Anton Ferdinand and John Terry's long-awaited reacquaintance, you would have thought that the game itself might have fizzled a bit more. However, instead, it was a flat affair, with Juan Mata outstanding out for all the right reasons, and Daniel Sturridge making a name for himself for all the wrong ones.

This lunchtime, Chelsea travel to Loftus Road to take on QPR in the next round of the FA Cup but somehow I don't think much of the focus leading up to this one won't be on the football!.
I could sit here all day talking about what happened and what is going to happen in a couple of days time but there is a football match to be won so I would rather concentrate on that!

One thing I have noticed on my blog and amongst Chelsea fans in general is a difference of opinion about our formation and who should be starting games. Of course we all know that for now AVB prefers the 4-3-3 formation as per managers before him here, but I just wonder what you the Chelsea fan reading this believes to be our better option(s).

According to media outlet talkSPORT, cash-rich French giants Paris St. Germain are on the verge of a sensational swoop for Chelsea star Frank Lampard.

The midfielder has been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge in recent weeks, with Premiership Talk last week reporting of a possible move to Major League Soccer side Los Angeles Galaxy.

It's a simple question but with a difficult answer. With a chance to close the gap on City, United and Spurs, Chelsea travel to Carrow Road in Saturday's lunchtime kick off.
With three players added to the fold and in contention to start the question is who do you think should start this game for Chelsea?

With the signing of Gary Cahill, it seems to me that slowly but surely, Chelsea are rebuilding the core of our side. For years, the core of the team has been Petr Cech, John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba and we have seen them lead the side to the recent successes we have had. We have seen different players come and go as managers have built sides around them.

Josh McEachran has signed for Swansea on loan until the end of the season in what appears to be a cracking move for all parties concerned.
We all know the situation with getting first team football here at Chelsea and with Raul Meireles, Lampard and Ramires playing well and Michael Essien back, it's harder than ever for Josh to break into the side these days.

It has indeed happened. We have reached the magical plateau of 40 points, and are thus unlikely to be relegated. Three cheers. As for this fixture, it was a right odd one, with the Chels looking equal parts sterling and benumb, particularly in defense. Chances, there were a fair few for both sides.

Rest up, Ram. We're going to need your services today.

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The result last night has really put the cat amongst the pigeons with Chelsea now sitting eight points behind Tottenham in the Premier League. The remit for Saturday's game now is simple, we have to win and get the three points and the performance doesn't matter. We have to get on a run of results and keep picking up three points week in, week out and anything else will be a disaster!

Fernando Torres, Chelsea's No. 10.

The Spaniard again failed to find the score sheet, but provided the necessary creativity that resulted in a late torrent of goals and a largely flattering 4-0 victory over visiting Portsmouth in the third round of the FA Cup. We weren't anywhere near our best, but we'll take it.

Chelsea beat Portsmouth 4-0 in the third round of the FA Cup this afternoon with goals from Juan Mata, Ramires (2) and Frank Lampard. Chelsea progress into the next round to face either MK Dons or QPR.
Here are the goals from the match today:
KTBFFH
Check out my blog posts on the Official Chelsea Website - http://bit.

Wayne Rooney celebrates as Manchester United win at neighbours City

The FA Cup third round saw very few shocks this weekend but did see some interesting results and a bit of controversy along the way.

In the tie of the round cup holders Manchester City lost in the derby match against record holders Manchester United by three goals to two.

It's a simple question but there could be so many answers. Chelsea could do with another win but with the busy festive period only just finished, I wonder if AVB will rotate the side and bring in some of the fringe players and some youngsters?
This is a competition the club always wants to win.

Frank Lampard will grab the headlines. Fernando Torres deserves to share in the spotlight. The maligned striker capped an excellent shift with one more killer pass, this time to Ashley Cole who went on to set up Super Frank for a trademark finish with only minutes to play. I don't want to wager on just how big this result could prove to be, but I reckon pretty damn in the grand scheme.

This shot of Andre Villas-Boas subtly reminds us of a similar pose Dunga held two years ago when Brazil were losing to the Netherlands en route to the World Cup semi-finals! It's one that screams "Estou desesperada!" (I'm desperate!) .

Just when everything seemed against us, when the press are making claims that there is a player mutiny going on at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea step up and beat Wolves 2-1 with goals from Ramires and Frank Lampard.
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Chelsea midfielder Ramires gives Chelsea the lead a Molineaux' incidently Chelsea's foreign players celebrated with the bench while Terry, Lampard and Cole just got on with it. Maybe there is a mutiny at Chelsea?

Chelsea midfielder Ramires gives Chelsea the lead a Molineaux' incidently Chelsea's foreign players celebrated with the bench while Terry, Lampard and Cole just got on with it. Maybe there is a mutiny at Chelsea?

You could see it coming a mile off couldn't you!. Once again we struggled to break a side down that comes here and lines up with ten men behind the ball. It's all well and good having the majority of the possession of the ball but you HAVE TO do something with it.
How many fucking times am I saying the same thing over and over again?

It's a game we simply have to win to keep on the tail of Spurs and anything else will be a disaster as far as I am concerned. We have drawn our last three Premier League games and we need to turn things round starting on Saturday.
So with this in mind, the fact that we are at home and the fact that we need to put a side out on that pitch at 1500 to get three points I am asking you all the question:

Who starts the game for Chelsea?

So here we go with the madness that happens every year around the Christmas and New Year period with games coming thick and fast. After a good point at White Hart Lane, Chelsea have a chance to grab six points in the next few days against Villa on Saturday and Fulham today.
This afternoon is our second London derby in the space of four days and will be just as difficult as Spurs was.

Ah, fixture congestion. A holly, jolly Christmas indeed.

Will Bob be in the mix?

Chelsea begin this oh so very festive period by hosting Fulham at the Bridge. This represents the first of three games over eight days, a favorable span which includes Aston Villa (h) and Wolves (a) that could go far in spreading some holiday cheer around the place.

Yesterday, we took Twitter by storm with our #PreemptiveChelseaStatement hashtag as we pondered what might happen if Chelsea put out a statement to defend John Terry in a similar vein to Liverpool's Luis Suarez statement. 1. Some of John Terry's favourite mistresses are black. 2. John Terry once co-refereed a football match with Uriah Rennie.

I asked you people earlier today who you think should play tomorrow. In the side I selected (Cech, Ivanovic, Luiz, Terry, Cole, Romeu, Meireles, Ramires, Mata, Torres and Sturridge) you will see I indicated that Luiz would play and Ivanovic would move to right back.
Well, this afternoon AVB has confirmed that David Luiz will miss the game through injury which leaves us with a problem!

So with the crux of the holiday season around the corner here are the top 5 noise makers for the blues this merry season:

#5 - Romeu

Highly understated. His performances have been amazing, most notably the assurance with he passes the ball around in his position. Very glad to hear that Barca only have a first option to buy him ONLY IF Chelsea decide to release him and not a buy back clause as initially reported!