English Premier
2011-09-24 - Chelsea vs Swansea
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football : English Premier League
Saturday 24 September 2011 - Kickoff 3pm
Chelsea
Chelsea could consider themselves more than unlucky that they did not pick up some sort of result at Old Trafford last Sunday in a game they played so well in and one in which they had more shots than the home team, something that does not happen very often to Manchester United in front of their own fans.
The Blues remained in 3rd place in the Premier League after that defeat having compiled 10 points from the opening 5 League games, although that does mean they are 5 points behind United at this early stage. They have won both League games at home, scoring 5 goals and conceding 2 having played West Brom and Norwich this season.
They had won 4 games in a row in all competitions before that defeat to United last Sunday, and come into this game having won a penalty shoot out against Fulham in the Carling Cup on Wednesday night. Chelsea are unbeaten in 9 games at Stamford Bridge in all competitions, and they have kept clean sheets in their last 2 games.
Alex is suspended for this game following his sending off on Wednesday night when Chelsea were forced to play 120 minutes to see off Fulham. Chelsea made a number of changes from the side that played against United, but Frank Lampard and John Terry played 65 + minutes while Petr Cech started before being taken off. Fernando Torres should start even after his atrocious miss at Old Trafford.
Swansea
Swansea finally got their Premier League campaign up and running as they scored their first goals in the top flight this season and earned their first win. I can't help feeling the strong talk in some papers that this means they will stay up is a tad overboard at this early stage of the season and now they have another test in front of them.
The team moved up to 14th in the Premier League courtesy of the 3 points earned against West Brom last weekend as they improved their points tally to 5 from their opening 5 games of the season. Swansea have lost both away games at Manchester City and Arsenal while failing to score and conceding 5 goals.
Swansea had failed to win any of their first 5 games in all competitions to start this season, and the only goal they scored was courtesy of an own goal in a 3-1 loss at Shrewsbury in the Carling Cup. The Swans have won 1 of their last 10 away games in all competitions since last season and they failed to score in half of those games.
Neil Taylor and Raffike Halliche are both doubtful, while Steven Caulker and Alan Tate are long term injuries as Brendan Rodgers has problems with his defence. Danny Graham may miss out with an injury that kept him out of the game with West Brom, while Kemy Agustien is definitely out until next month.
Prediction
Chelsea put in maybe their best performance of the season last week at Old Trafford and if they can replicate that on a regular basis, they will definitely be challenging at the top end of the Premier League come May.
Defensively they have looked a little suspect, but they were undone by some poor officiating last week and they have kept back to back clean sheets at Stamford Bridge.
I know Swansea have a lot of pace in their side that could cause problems, but the lack of goals is still a worry regardless of last weeks result and I am going to back the home team to win this game with a clean sheet to boot.
Chelsea should be concentrated enough on this game considering their Champions League game is on Wednesday, but they may not clear the 2 goal handicap as they will look to get the job done with the minimal of fuss.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Chelsea 2-0 Swansea
