Its here, the 2012/13 Premier League campaign.
Local boys Spurs were beaten by Newcastle, QPR were destroyed by Swansea, and Arsenal finishing goalless with Sunderland, in what was a very exciting opening day.
We visit the DW Stadium today, in a game that should not be taken lightly, the corresponding fixture ended 1-1 last season, whilst only some interesting refereeing meant we managed a 2-1 win at the Bridge.
Both Roberto’s ended the season fantastically, Wigan preserving their top flight status, whilst Chelsea of course won the Champions League, both against heavy odds.
The big statement of the weekend is that Victor Moses is in the Wigan squad, despite being pursued by us for most of the summer, which could spell the end of any interest, or one last show from him to persuade Di Matteo to cough up the extra money that The Latics want.
Chelsea should just look to 2010 for inspiration, they beat Wigan 8-0 here, as well as 6-0 on their own patch, and after two 5-0 results yesterday, there is no reason why Chelsea couldn’t rack up the goals today, if they find their shooting boots early on.
Wigan are on a run of four straight home wins, whilst you have to go back to 1998 to find the last time that Chelsea were beaten on Day One of the season, so its anyones guess what todays score might be, but im going to give it a go anyway.
Torres is just 4/1 to net the opening goal, but I think there is more value in Hazard or Mata, both at 7/1 and can find the net when needed, whilst Wigan new boy Miyaichi is at 12/1.
Chelsea (-1) @ 7/4 has to be worth a flutter, as there certainly could be goals in this new look Blues team, and you can have Chelsea to win by 2 goals at a massive 15/4 also.
Chelsea can be backed at 5/4 to be leading at half time, but if you think we will be slow starters and come good later, you can get Draw HT/Chelsea FT at a tasty 10/3.
My favourite picks are:
Draw HT/Chelsea FT @ 10/3
Eden Hazard FGS @ 7/1
Chelsea win and over 2.5 goals @ 7/4
Prediction: Wigan 1 (Kone) Chelsea 3 (Torres 2, Hazard)
By Brad Smith
@BrummieBrad