Football Update: EPL News- Chelsea vs. Marseille Preview
It was a strange weekend for the big teams in the Premier League. Each of the supposed “big four” managed not to win a game with English Premier League defending champions and current table toppers, Chelsea falling to the new rich kid of the block, Manchester
City. Chelsea’s week of preparation for their Champions League clash against Marseille could have not been worse. After crashing out of the Carling Cup at the hands of Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge, they were subjected to another defeat at the weekend
when Manchester City’s, Carlos Tevez stabbed in a brilliant winner to snap Chelsea’s winning start to the season. The defeat also marked the first time this season that Chelsea has gone through a match without scoring.
With two painful defeats, Chelsea will be hoping to gain some of their swagger back when they face French opponents Marseille in Group F of the Champions League. They will gain some measure of solace from the fact that they will tackle Didier Deschamps’
side at Stamford Bridge. Deschamp, the Marseille manager will be afforded a warm welcome at the Bridge which he graced for a season at the tail end of his career. Despite the fact that one of Deschamps’ former sides, Monaco dumped Chelsea out of the Champions
League the last time he returned, the Frenchman can be assured of applause. Yet Marseille will probably not want to come to Stamford Bridge just to make up the numbers. The French side will be mindful what happened to the last French team which travelled to
Chelsea’s home ground. Laurent Blanc’s Bordeaux travelled to London to take on Chelsea but were spanked four nil in a match which was very one sided. It is probably for this reason that Deschamp will look to adopt his usual variant of a 4-3-3 formation which
can morph into a 4-5-1 when defending.
Marseille are also under pressure due to the fact that they lost to Spartak Moscow at home in their first game of group F. Therefore, the French side will look to do everything possible to avoid defeat.
For Chelsea, the match represents a chance to redeem themselves after a terrible week. However, they will have to do it without the services of talismanic midfielder Frank Lampard and striker Didier Drogba. Lampard is still out injured and his attacking
prowess was sorely missed in the defeat against Manchester City. Meanwhile, the Ivorian Drogba is suspended for the match. Chelsea will also be without the services of Salomon Kalou and Yossi Benayoun. Despite the difficult week and the absentee list, manager
Carlo Ancelotti is confident that Chelsea can produce a good performance to see off Marseille. Chelsea have been excellent form in Europe defeating MSK Zilina 4-1 on their last away outing and will look at this game as a stepping stone for the upcoming big
clash against fellow title-chasers Arsenal.
Ancelotti for now however, is focused on the Champions League fixture and said that he expects a good response from his team. Drogba’s absence means that teenage striker Daniel Sturridge might be given a rare chance to start a game alongside with Nicholas
Anelka. Ancelotti admitted that Marseille is an attacking side and that they will have to be at the top of their game to get a positive result.
In the end, the game probably means more for Marseille than Chelsea. The London based side is confident of advancing to the next round while a defeat here for Marseille could mean disaster. Ancelotti will probably look at this game as an exercise to gain
some of their confidence back so they can go back to bulldozing teams in the Premier League. The Italian will be hoping that their recent blips were only that and that they can now move on to solidify their position both in Europe and in the English Premier
League.
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