The Premier League season may just have kicked off but we're already on the eve of our first midweek game as prospective title contenders Chelsea face off against the recently promoted Reading, with both teams knowing a win will take them to the top of the table.
On the opening day of the season Reading looked rather toothless for much of their game as they struggled to a 1-1 draw with Stoke, thanks in part to Dean Whitehead getting sent off and conceding a penalty late. The extra man advantage suddenly seemed to charge Reading up and despite their being only minutes of the match left they looked to be a team who had cast of the shackles.
Just a day later Chelsea managed to earn three 3 points away to Wigan after an excellent start going 1-0 up inside 2 minutes before bagging a second just minutes later as they looked almost certain to rout the Latics. Instead of bagging more goals however Chelsea went into their shells and just sat back allowing Wigan to play themselves into the game. Despite their timid performance after taking an early lead Chelsea did have positives to take from the match, mainly the showing by new signing Eden Hazard who worried the Wigan defense every time he had the ball.
Despite having had an extra days rest however it'll be very hard to favour Reading who will be going into the lions den against a Chelsea team who will almost certainly want to not only climb to the top of the league but put on a performance for their own fans at Stamford Bridge in their first home fixture of the season.
At the home last year Chelsea were defensively poor conceding 24 home goals (11th worst home defence) though they often found ways to win by simply out scoring their opponents racking up an impressive 41 home goals (3rd most) to give them 39 home points (5th most). In fact the combined 65 goals scored at Stamford Bridge was the 3rd most goals at a single ground in the Premier League last season (behind only Old Trafford-71 and the Etihad-67) giving fans plenty of action to watch.
Against Reading I don't see the Chelsea defense being pushed too hard, the performance against stoke was less than threatening and on last years form Reading really aren't a great threat away from home. Despite scoring 33 away goals (5th most in the Championship) last season they netted 14 of those in 4 games (with 4 against West Ham, 4 against Barnsley, 3 against Southampton and 3 against Bristol City) meaning in the other 19 away games they netted an average of once per game. Though Reading's strong point away from home, and what helped win them 13 away games (tied most with West Ham in the Champion) was their away defence which conceded just 23 goals in 23 games (the 2nd best behind West Ham).
What we have here then is a very strong offensive team in Chelsea who will attack, especially at home, against a strong defensive team in Reading who will likely only play with one out and out attacker giving them little threat up front. Though the bigger point isn't about last years stats but more about the mentality of the Reading players. We know Chelsea's players, on the whole, have international pedigree, with the technical ability to really play Reading off the pitch. With the likes of Lampard and Hazard pulling the strings behind Torres it could well be a difficult night for Reading who will find themselves under a lot of pressure. How will Reading cope with not getting much of the ball? How well drilled are they? And most importantly, are they capable of taking a chance if they get one?
For me the key here is whether or not Reading can shut down the service Chelsea will try to provide to Torres. If they can stop the likes of Hazard, Lampard, Ivanovic and Cole from playing in the Chelsea hitman it could prove to be a fruitless night for the Blues. Sadly for the Royals I genuinely can't see them holding out for 90 minutes against a very threatening Chelsea attack which despite only playing a single Striker has goal threats from every where on the pitch. Lampard, as we know can bang them in, Ivanaovic, as he showed on Sunday is a threat, Torres, Hazard and Oscar are all solid in front of goal and Terry is a serious threat from set Pieces.
Whilst Reading do have goals in them through Adam le Fondre and Pavel Pogrebyank in open play and Ian Harte from set pieces I don't imagine they will have enough of the ball to threaten Petr Cech in what could be a steep learning curve.
Kick off-19:45
Prediction 3-0
Expected Line Ups:
Chelsea-
Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Cole, Mikel, Lampard, Bertrand, Hazard, Oscar, Torres (4-2-3-1)
Reading-
Federici, Gunter, Harte, Gorkss, Pearce, Guthrie, Leigertwood, McAnuff, McCleary, Le Fondre, Pogrebnyak (4-4-1-1)
Notes:
Chelsea's new signings Eden Hazard and Oscar are expected to both make their home debut's for the Blues who are expected to start Mata on the bench so as to start Oscar.
Whilst no new injury worries have come up for Reading Jimmy Kebe still hasn't returned to the team and isn't expected back for several weeks.
This will be Chelsea's 2nd game of 3 inside a week as they start the Premier League with a relatively hectic schedule.
As a sub story to the game expect the comparisons between Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and Reading's owner Anton Zingarevich to at least get a mention on TV and Radio
Players to watch out for-
Chelsea:
Fernando Torres-The Spanish Striker looked like he was slowly getting back to his best at the end of last season and again at Euro 2010 where he claimed the Golden Boot. Whilst not at his most impressive against Wigan he is a serious threat and seems to be getting more confident. With the service he is likely to get it's hard to imagine him not getting at least one chance here.
Eden Hazard-New signing Eden Hazard look excellent on the ball against Wigan and whilst he went down far too easily he seems to have the innate ability to open defenses up at will. Against Reading I can can imagine him creating chances left right and centre as he looks to justify his hefty price tag.
Reading-
Adam Federici-Despite effectively giving Stoke their goal on Saturday the Australian Keeper is a very reliable keeper and will be looking to put the blunder behind him as he faces Chelsea's fearsome attacking line. Whether Reading fan's like it or not Federici will be a busy man in goal.
Kaspars Gorkšs-The defensive stalwart will need to show why he is so highly rated by Reading fans as he attempts to organise the Reading defense as well as neutralise the Chelsea task. The Latvian was incredible in the Championship last year and will need to step up here. If Gorkšs has a bad game this could be hugely embarrassing for Reading.
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