Premiership preview: Bolton Wanderers v. Chelsea
Chelsea sealed the 2004/5 Premiership title at the Reebok Stadium and won there again in April, and Jose Mourinho is looking forward to returning once more.
“It is a very difficult game because Bolton will have a big boost to their morale after beating Arsenal,” Mourinho said. “But I can say it is my pitch, because it is the pitch where I was English champion for the first time and it is a pitch where we took a big step to becoming champions the next season.”
Mourinho has no new injury concerns. Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack and Ricardo Carvalho came through Sunday’s draw at Old Trafford relatively unscathed, while Salomon Kalou is still out with a medial ligament injury.
Nicky Hunt is expected to feature for Sam Allardyce’s side after recovering from a hamstring injury sustained against Arsenal. Quinton Fortune will miss out after picking up an Achilles injury.
Since bringing Bolton back into the Premiership, Allardyce has taken 14 points from Arsenal, 12 from Liverpool and 8 from Manchester United. There has been just the one win over Chelsea, at Stamford Bridge in December 2003.
The Blues are unbeaten in five subsequent Premiership meetings, and have won their last three visits to the Reebok, all by a 0-2 margin.
- Posted at 03:51 PM · Permalink · Print · 1212 views · Last indexed by Google on the 8th May 2008
- Tags: Bolton Wanderers, Chelsea, Jose Mourinho, Matches, Premiership, Sam Allardyce
Bring it on.
Really looking forward to tonights game, 3rd v 2nd.
It is the first time since our return to the Prem that we have played Chelski on a cold, wet, windy winter/autumn night. Should even things out a little.
Diouf is the man to watch tonight. He has been the form man of late and was the MOTM against the Gooners.
Come on you BLUES!!!!
the 3rd vs 2nd aspect brings a fascinating backstory to the match, as does the fact that Chelsea are more physical and less creative than the last two years, whereas Bolton are sharper than before.
Should be interesting, although you’d be daft to think Bolton could win. But a point should do it, right?
Ahmed, Chelsea are not less creative than before. They are more creative than last season and about the same as the one before.
I thought that the way we totally dominated the first half of this game showed what we are all about. This was a truly awesomely powerful display exemplified by the Bolton players continual pleading with the ref for help. Had we had the option of chucking on a couple of wingers in the second half I think we would have taken them apart. Overall, I think it is going to be more exciting this year than previous seasons. I think Utd are in great form but form is temporary and one setback might see their current confidence rapidly evaporate. They are going to be under enourmous pressure and I don’t think they have the self belief to withstand our challenge in the second half of the season. You have to admire some of their football though
Peter H
Completely agree.
I said to my brother pre-season I quite fancied being in second or third place for the first half of the season then going on a ludicrous run to take top spot and crush the spirit of our rivals.
What with United potentially opening up a 9 point lead by the end of next week (alebit we will have games in hand) this could become reality and hopfeully should be fantastic to watch.
Up the Chels!
Given that JM said we we’re going to start slowly, that we’re playing a completely new system, that we lost four key players in the summer, are without the world’s no 1 goalkeeper and are still bedding in new players, I think we can be pretty pleased with how things are going.