Chelsea vs. Norwich City,
27th August 2011, 3pm
New signing Juan Mata is expected to start the game on substitute’s bench, but is likely to make a second-half appearance.
David Luiz, is back in training following his thigh problem, but this game has come soon for the Brazilian. We will have to wait until after the International break to see him back in a Chelsea shirt.
With Petr Cech still out injured, back-up Hilario will retain his place after Saturday’s victory against West Brom.
Norwich are expected to make lots of changes after their 4-0 hammering by League One MK Dons, admittedly they did make 11 changes from the side that drew 1-1 with Stoke last Saturday.
They will be pleased to see the return of defender Leon Barnett, who is available following his one-game suspension.
Unfortunately Daniel Ayala is out for eight weeks after injuring his knee, and they are waiting to see if star player Wes Hoolahan can pass a late fitness test on his hamstring.
Head-to-head
Norwich have a good record against Chelsea, they have beaten the Blues in four of their eight Premier League games, whist the Chelsea have won three.
Mind you, the last three games at Stamford Bridge have see the Canaries’ lose 4-0 , this includes the 2002 FA Cup tie when Gianfranco Zola scored one of the goals of his career.
Odds
Whist Norwich have only conceded two goals in two games, it is expected that this match will provide plenty of goals – You can get odds of 7/5 for over 3.5 goals, which looks a good bet. For the optimist you can go for over 5.5 goals at 7s.
For the Blues to be winning at half-time and to go on to win you can get 4/6, or if Chelsea start as slowly as they have recently then you can gets 4s on a draw after 45 minutes and Chelsea to end up winners.
For the best prices for Chelsea head to http://www.astamfordbridgetoofar.com/betting.
By Scott Balaam
Twitter @theshed11