Premier League Preview: Chelsea vs Blackpool

He may have an eyebrow with more of a mind of its own than Roger Moore's but Carlo Ancelotti is certainly the man with the golden, erm, team-talk, as his Chelsea side already sit top of the Premier League with four wins out of four and no sign of letting up.

Admittedly the fixture computer has been kind to the league champions, who have not had to face a decent side yet and on Sunday have a chance to make it a perfect five against Blackpool, a team who conceded six at Arsenal. And the Seasiders will have their work cut out to keep the Blues out - no-one has stopped Chelsea from scoring in their last 23 Premier League home games.

But it isn't all sunshine and lollipops, as this week's 4-1 Champions League win at MSK Zilina showed: Chelsea raced into a four goal lead, but then conceded a comic goal, which bounced off Branislav Ivanovic's face, and looked miles from champions after that.

Still, the stats are in Chelsea's favour - 50 goals in their last 12 Premier League games, conceding just five. Wowzers.

Before anyone starts writing off Blackpool bear in mind that they are currently fourth in the league and have won two of their three away games this season. Yes, they were at Wigan and Newcastle, but the Arsenal 6-0 drubbing aside, the Seasiders have hit six goals without reply on the road.

And unbelievably, history is on their side: the last meeting between Chelsea and Blackpool was in the League Cup in 1996 and the Seasiders stunned the Blues by winning the second leg 3-1 at Stamford Bridge, though it proved in vain as the Blues had already won 4-1 at Bloomfield Road.

But the differences between the two sides in 2010 are vast - Blackpool boss Ian Holloway admitted yesterday the club didn't have a washing machine to clean dirty kit and come Sunday evening they could well be in a spin.


TEAM NEWS:

Chelsea

Chelsea will have to do without free-scoring midfielder Frank Lampard who has not recovered from hernia surgery in time, but star striker Didider Drogba returns from suspension mid-week to lead the line against the Seasiders.

Right-back Jose Bosingwa is out with a knee injury, but Ashley Cole is available for the left-back spot after being rested against MSK.

Possible Starting XI: Cech; Ivanovic, Alex, Terry, Cole; Essien, Mikel, Malouda; Drogba, Anelka, Kalou.


Blackpool

The man with the poshest name in Premier League football - Gary Taylor-Fletcher - will return for the Seasiders after missing last weekend's victory at Newcastle with a calf problem

Alex Baptiste, who scored a cross shot against Wigan, could also be back in action having been sidelined with a fractured hand.

Possible Starting XI: Gilks, Baptiste, Eardley, Crainey, Evatt, Adam, Vaughan, Varney, Campbell, Taylor-Fletcher, Grandin.


PREDICTION:

Not hard this one really, no matter how much of a football romantic you are. The Blues rarely drop points or even concede goals at Stamford Bridge, and while Blackpool's record on the road isn't too bad so far this season, their wins have come against relegation rivals.

Expect a comfortable home win.

Chelsea 4 – 0 Blackpool

Ancelotti Focused On Blues Despite Father's Illness

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti insists his father's illness in Italy is not preventing him from focusing on his job at Stamford Bridge.

The Italian returns home to see his father at every opportunity but, while he accepts it is emotionally difficult, he has a first-class support system -- both at the club and back home.

"My father is not well," said Ancelotti. "He's an old man. Whenever possible, I fly back to Italy to see him.

"He has good support from my sister, so we don't have a problem for this reason.

"It's not difficult to keep my focus. I've spent a lot of time here and, when I'm not here, I have good support from my assistant.

"Everyone knows my situation. I don't have a problem managing the team for this reason. It's difficult, emotionally, when it's your father ... but this is life. I have to do my best to stay close to him.

"I will go back on Monday. But I will not miss the Carling Cup game against Newcastle next week."

Roman Abramovich Set To Make Financial Club Cutbacks

Chelsea’s billionaire owner Roman Abramovich has reportedly told the club that their big spending days are over.

The Russian has been in control of the Premier League champions since 2003, but has told officials and executives that the club will now have to live within their means and that cutbacks will be necessary in order to stabilize finances at Stamford Bridge.

This has led to players having their bonus payments reduced, which basically means a pay cut, and when addressed at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground earlier in the week by chairman Bruce Buck, they were told that the club will now have to generate the money first in order to bring new players to Stamford Bridge.

The Russian forked out over £230 million in his first two years with the club, signings the likes of Michael Essien, Didier Drogba and defender Ricardo Carvalho, as well as some of the least successful signings such as Damien Duff and Adrian Mutu, all for substantial sums.

The cutbacks will also mean slashing catering costs and coaching staff numbers at their Cobham training ground.

However players who signed a contract before 2009 will still have their win bonuses guaranteed.

Despite the cutbacks at Chelsea, Abramovich is still owed £726m by holding company Fordstam but the club has recorded a staggering loss of £493m since the Russian took over.

Chelsea Set To Offer Carlo Ancelotti A New Contract To Extend Stamford Bridge Stay Until 2014

Chelsea is reportedly in line to offer manager Carlo Ancelotti a new contract that will tie him down at the club until 2014.

It is believed that the west London outfit's owner, Roman Abramovich, is pleased with the progress than the Italian has made since taking over last year.

The former Milan boss guided the club to a historic double last season, as the Blues won the Premier League and the FA Cup.

It has also been reported that the Russian owner is delighted with the manner in which the team went about achieving success last term, as Ancelotti's charges scored over 100 goals en route to being crowned the champions of England.

Now The Mirror claims that the 51-year-old boss is expected to be offered a new deal that should keep him in his post until 2014.

Ancelotti's still has two years on his current contract at Stamford Bridge, which is thought to be worth about £3 million-a-year.

Salomon Kalou: Smells Like Team Spirit

Rival sides are going to have to up their game if they are to take on Chelsea, as striker Salomon Kalou says that team spirit in The Blues clubhouse is very much in evidence.

In an interview with Chelsea TV, the 25-year-old said the squad's results speak for themselves.

'We are winning every game and it doesn't matter which player is in the team,' he remarked. 'It's good to know that we have a great team and great people that want to work together.'

Such camaraderie will be put to the test this Sunday when Chelsea take on Blackpool, a match that Kalou knows could put an end to his side's successful streak.

He told the news source that because Blackpool - currently fourth on the table - are new in the league, they go out on the pitch willing to give anything a try each time, which means Chelsea need to be careful as the game could prove one of the most difficult of the season.

Kalou isn't the only one to believe that the Blues have what it takes - manager Carlo Ancelotti made similar remarks last week, revealing how pleased he is to have so many players firing on all cylinders at this early stage.

Mikel: Achieving Our Aim

Sometimes though, they are simply impossible to ignore, and when you take a look at the Barclays Premier League's list of top passers there is a Chelsea man at the top - John Mikel Obi has completed 299 of 310 attempted, a completion rate of 96 percent - three percent higher than Arsenal's Abou Diaby, and seven percent greater than Manchester United's Darren Fletcher, his nearest rivals in the holding midfield role.

Everybody seems in agreement that the 23-year-old Nigerian has upped his game in 2010/11, and long may it continue.

Upon discovering the statistics, the midfielder was as shocked as he was impressed.

'No?! 96?! Wow!' he laughed. 'It's good isn't it? It is a surprise, but I know that passing, even when I was little, was the thing I had, I hardly gave the ball away in youth football.

'When I came into senior football and at a higher level in competitive games I started to give passes away. Since coming into the Premier League it has been harder.'

He believes it is testament to how well the whole side has begun the campaign, with 17 goals scored in our four matches to date, and just one conceded.

'It shows how good Chelsea are at the moment, it is not just me,' Mikel said.'Everyone is working hard, pre-season was misleading because we lost a few games, people were coming back from the World Cup at different times, but now is the most important time and we're very fit, playing well and happy.'

Mikel has long been a fan of the possession games played by both Arsenal and Barcelona (Barça had 74 percent possession against Panathinaikos in midweek, compared with our 53 percent against Zilina), and while they are impressive, he believes it is Chelsea that are the best side to watch at the moment due to our more attacking, dynamic approach.

'The styles of football are different, they do play more of the ball, more passes in the midfield, they don't rush most of the time, and we can do that sometimes, but we play the ball around and can be more physical, we are ready to play any way,' he argued.

So how would he go about trying to stop the Blues were he an opposition manager?

'I don't know, it is not for me to worry about!' smiled the number 12. 'Most sides try to get men behind the ball and stay deep on the edge of their area, they sit back and it's not a problem if they lose, they expect to, but they try to make it difficult for us.

'When we get an early goal it always helps because the game becomes more open, so that is what we have to aim for against Blackpool on Sunday.'

The visit is the Seasiders' first to Stamford Bridge since 1996, when they emerged with a 3-1 win in the League Cup. They still went out though, as we had already won 4-1 at Bloomfield Road.

Some statistics can be useless.

Building Bridges Tackles Descrimination

Chelsea utterly condemns anti-Semitic behaviour and operates a zero-tolerance policy towards all forms of discrimination, as shown by the new Building Bridges campaign aimed at eradicating prejudice from Stamford Bridge.

We are proud of our record in tackling racism and discrimination, and you can play your part.

A number of people have been banned from Stamford Bridge and prosecuted, and Chelsea will not hesitate to do so again if there is sufficient evidence.

The technology involved in identifying culprits is continually improving, as seen with the new CCTV system at the stadium this season.