Chelsea duo out ahead of crucial match at Villa Park
The current Premier League leaders, Chelsea's injury catastrophe deepened ahead of their weekend match against Aston Villa with their talisman attacker, Didier Drogba side lined by fever.
Chelsea’s midfield maestro, Frank Lampard has already been unsuccessful to improve from his groin problem. Lampard also did not feature in any game of England during the international break. It had been hoped at that time that Frank would soon recover from
his hernia operation but he is still a fortnight away from match fitness.
Meanwhile, Blues' skipper John Terry has been declared fit to feature against Aston Villa on Saturday evening. Terry has recovered from his back injury that had forced his withdrawal from the England squad for their Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro.
Carlo Ancelloti‘s team would be without their two super stars and along with that they would also be missing Alex, Yossi Benayoun, Daniel Sturridge and Salomon Kalou, who are all out of action due to injuries.
With such big list of injured players, there seems to be a huge crisis in the treatment room for Chelsea, and so Ancelloti would be forced to play a weaker squad.
The last time the two clubs had met was at Villa Park and Martin O' Neill was at Aston Villa as the home side defeated Chelsea two to one. Much has happened since then. The Blues took revenge of their defeat by thrashing Villa on their next two occasions.
Aston Villa were expected to contest for a place in the Europa League again this season following their three successive sixth-placed finishes. O’Neill’s departure and a 6-0 thrashing away by the newly promoted team threw them into uncertainty but, they
now lie eighth in the table and, could be set for another European challenge.
Moreover, Ancelloti’s team have had one of their best starts ever to a Barclays English Premier League season. Chelsea have so far won six out of their first seven games, scoring 23 goals and conceding just twice in the process. Now, even a defeat to Villa
would still let Ancelloti’s men retain their top spot due to their four points lead over their closest rivals, the Manchester City.
Carlo said of the match against Villa, "The line-up will be Cech, Ferreira, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole, Ramires, Essien, Mikel, Kakuta, Malouda and Anelka."
He added, "Frank is not available, Drogba is not available, Sturridge, Kalou, Alex, Benayoun are not available. Frank is getting better, but he needs maybe two weeks to be 100 per cent fit. He had a problem on his adductor and we have to pay attention to
that.”
Ancelloti maintained, "He is working individually but he needs to have another two weeks. It's getting better. It wasn't an easy injury but I'm not a doctor. We have to speak with the doctor, who can be more precise. Drogba had a fever this week, all week,
and wasn't able to train. He started training on Friday, but he's not fit. He took antibiotics in the last few days, and will need to train next week."
Carlo knows that his side faces a difficult test as they had earlier lost by 2-1 at Villa Park, last season.
The Chelsea boss stated, "The Villa match will be a difficult game. We had a problem last year when we played them. They were physical and we have to be ready. It's an important moment. We want to maintain this gap at the top and this will be a good step.
It would be fantastic to win.
He further added, "It's a good test because, without important players, we have to show our qualities. I'm happy to have this squad but this will be a good test to show our quality without these players. I'm not concerned about this, our line-up will be
good. Every team has some problems. We have injuries, but we have to move on."
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