Chelsea v Everton. 11th Feb at 19.45.

[ste d' indica]

When was the last time we won at the bridge?

Twenty odd years I think

 

[ah11984]

When was the last time we won at the bridge?

Apart from the cup win on penalties the last I can remember is a 1-0 win(Rideout) in 94......

 

[Boss_Blue]

Bored of going into games scared. Feck that and feck this lot. We are going to win one nil.

Is right mate.

 

[Jacob]

Everyone's written off this game for us, got a strong feeling we'll hold fast and get something out of it, gonna put a couple of quid on a sneaky smash and grab for us. 0-1 Everton.

Just had a look on my William Hill acc ....25/1 for that 1-0.....also fancy the 2-2 same odds. (would prefer the 2-1 us at 33s of course...)

 

[paulbefc]

Great to have the pressure off us for this one.

The way we've been defending lately, we could make this interesting. Go behind and it's probably a wrap though, however deep into the game it happens.

 

[ste d' indica]

Just had a look on my William Hill acc ....25/1 for that 1-0.....also fancy the 2-2 same odds. (would prefer the 2-1 us at 33s of course...)

Was that with a first scorer?

 

[Tramps_mate]

Howard starts!! WHY God WHY!!!!!

 

[CahillsCornerFlag]

Not only is the decision to play Howard a weird one after Joel's good form and Tim's poor form, it's even weirder that he's told everyone before the rest of the team selection.

 

[Jacob]

Was that with a first scorer?

Not a scorecast....just the straight correct score. But 1-0 with Lukaku scorer is 180/1...the 2-1 us and him 320/1

 

[Steve Wigan]

Whats all this 'Barkley must play' nonsense ? We need 100% from everyone tonight, and Barkley dawdling ,indecisive and not tackling is the last thing we want. One great pass in a little cameo in the derby doesn't get him his starting place back, as far as I'm concerned. For this reason also, I wouldn't neccessarily start with Mirallas, but save him for the final 30 mins. Is baines fit? If not, Garbutt is a good shout, with Oviedo useful from the bench to cover a number of positions ( i think he's going to bed himself in as our utility super sub) Robles has earned another start, so
Robles: Coleman, Jagielka, Stones, Baines/Garbutt: Besic ,Barry, McCarthy: Lennon,Naismith, Lukaku. would be my pick.

 

[ste d' indica]

Not a scorecast....just the straight correct score. But 1-0 with Lukaku scorer is 180/1...the 2-1 us and him 320/1

Was thinking of chucking in Rom as the scorer as well.. hmm.

 

[bluemangroup]

Whats all this 'Barkley must play' nonsense ? We need 100% from everyone tonight, and Barkley dawdling ,indecisive and not tackling is the last thing we want. One great pass in a little cameo in the derby doesn't get him his starting place back, as far as I'm concerned. For this reason also, I wouldn't neccessarily start with Mirallas, but save him for the final 30 mins. Is baines fit? If not, Garbutt is a good shout, with Oviedo useful from the bench to cover a number of positions ( i think he's going to bed himself in as our utility super sub) Robles has earned another start, so
Robles: Coleman, Jagielka, Stones, Baines/Garbutt: Besic ,Barry, McCarthy: Lennon,Naismith, Lukaku. would be my pick.

You are incorrect im afraid mate. Nais isnt an on the break sort of footballer and we need a bit of purchase in the middle. Yeah three in midfield would absorb what Chelsea have to throw at us mostly, but doesnt give them any reason to be wary of going forward

 

[TippEverton]

Apart from the cup win on penalties the last I can remember is a 1-0 win(Rideout) in 94......

Yep, showed the goal earlier on sky, sublime ball from Limpar for it, wasn't it the game directly after the derby, Joe Royles second game?

 

[Steve Wigan]

If Barry, McCarthy and Besic are all available Martinez will play them again and go with 433. He said yesterday he'd have deployed this more often if those three had been fit at the same time.

It's one thing grinding out a draw against Liverpool with that, it's another playing a clinical team like Chelsea with it. We need this formation but to replace Barry with Barkley to offer more going forward....and we'll need way better passing than we had in the derby.

I wouldn't start with Barkley(see my post above) because effectively him 'getting forward more' destroys the security of the midfield three, basically making them just a two again. I'd say that Barry is the 'most holding(!) of the three and replacing him with a player who can't do that job would be a bad idea. As you say, Chelsea can be clinical, they're at home, and will need watching . The one thing about Jose is that he will play a waiting game if it suits him, and thats when we've got to be prepared to take the game to them, particularly late on. Thats why I'd hold Mirallas back until the last 30 mins or so.

 

[diggerdestroyer]

A draw score or scoreless would be a very good result against that Russian machine.