CHELSEA VS WEST BROMWICH ALBION PREVIEW

Chelsea FC host West Bromwich Albion at Stamford Bridge in Gameweek 11 before the players take a respite from club football courtesy the final international break of the calendar year. Jose Mourinho will come face to face with former assistant Steve Clarke as the Blues look to bounce back from their shocking defeat against Newcastle last week.

DATE & TIME: November 9, 2013 at 11:00 EDT; November 9, 2013 at 15:00 GMT; November 9, 2013 at 16:00 WAT; November 9, 2013 at 17:00 CAT; November 9, 2013 at 18:00 EAT; November 9, 2013 at 20:30 IST.

VENUE: Stamford Bridge, London, United Kingdom.

TV/STREAMING NEWS: The match will be telecast live on Fox Sports EPL On Demand in Australia, SuperSport5 Africa in African sub-continent, TSN2 & RDS2 in Canada, Al Jazeera Sport HD6 in Egypt, Canal+ Sport in France, ESPN in India, J Sports 4 in Japan, Canal+ Fútbol/HD in Spain, Al Jazeera Sport HD6 in UAE, BBC One in UK and NBC Sports Network in USA.
The match is also available online on Chelsea TV.

CHELSEA FC SQUAD NEWS: Long-term absentee Marco van Ginkel is joined by Fernando Torres on the sidelines, who is yet to recover from his muscle strain. Eden Hazard, who did a disappearing act in the last game, is expected to be back in squad as well. Predicted Starting XI: Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Ramires, Essien, Schuerrle, Oscar, Hazard, Eto’o.

WEST BROMWICH ALBION SQUAD NEWS: West Brom are seriously compromised due to injuries to Zoltán Gera, Ben Foster, George Thorne and Billy Jones. Steve Clarke faces further problems as  Scott Sinclair, Boaz Myhill, Nicolas Anelka and Victor Anichebe are all doubtful. Predicted Starting XI: Myhill, Reid, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell, Mulumbu, Yacob, Amalfitano, Sessegnon, Brunt, Long.

REFEREE: Andre Marriner.

TACTICAL OVERVIEW: West Brom play a standard 4-4-1-1 with the key being passing around when on the ball & setting up an organized defense when the opponent has the ball. Youssuf Mulumbu is the most influential player for the Baggies, controlling West Brom’s play from the middle of the park. Lets take a look at the contribution from Mulumbu via his passing graphic & interception chart against Crystal Palace. The interception chart of Mulumbu shows how important a role he plays in stopping the opposition attack & winning the ball for the Baggies.
Stopping Mulumbu from gaining a foot-hold in the match will help the Blues make a strong case for their cause of three points.

FORM INDEX: Chelsea – WDWWWL ; West Brom – WWDDLW

FUN TRIVIA:

• Jose Mourinho manages Chelsea at Stamford Bridge for the 100th time this Saturday.
• Michael Essien’s next appearance will be his 250th for the club.
• West Brom have won six points from a possible 15 away from home this season.

IN A NUTSHELL: Chelsea are 5 points behind league leaders Arsenal, but just a point & goal differential count separates the second from the seventh placed side in the current league table. Chelsea must get three points to stay on course for a fifth Premier League title.