PRE-MATCH BRIEFING: CHELSEA V STOKE CITY
More of the same please will be the order from Chelsea fans at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. Club historian Rick Glanvill and club statistician Paul Dutton will be among them...
TALKING POINTS
It is no surprise when one of the best teams in a club's history lays downmarkers for posterity, but the regularity with which the currentChelsea team is achieving new highs is quite remarkable.
Last weekend the Double champions inflicted on Wigan Athletic the biggest home defeat in their 32-year league history. Curiously nocorners were recorded for either side - the first occasion for any topflight match for 79 years when Newcastle United held Pompey 0-0.
The 6-0 margin was Chelsea's best away day in the top flight since August 1997 at Barnsley, when popular Italian Gianluca Vialli baggedfour.
It is also the first occasion we have ever scored six in two successive league games. On November 16 1960 we beat Doncaster away 7-0(Peter Brabrook 2, Bobby Tambling 2, Frank Blunstone 2, John Sillett) then three days later at Stamford Bridge defeated Man City 6-3 in Division One (Jimmy Greaves 3, Bobby Tambling, Ron Tindall 2). The win over Donny, however, was in the League Cup 3rd round.
The recent goals tally is formidable: 29 in five, and 20 in the last three - the highest since Wolves' 19 in three matches back in1955/56.
Six different Chelsea players have already scored this season, while the clean sheets are also mounting up. Such extremes won't lastforever, but let's enjoy them while they last.
Some individuals naturally stand out in this run. Florent Malouda is arguably in the form of his life, stitching together so much of theBlues' attacking play and hitting three goals in two games.
In-form Didier Drogba has scored six and assisted on three in the most recent trio of leaguegames. Those pondering his status among the great strikers of the worldmight ponder that despite injury the Ivorian has netted 10 goals sinceRooney last did, and nine over the course of Fernando Torres' barrenspell.
Curiously Chelsea are the only team to have a 100 per cent record after just two Premier League games and the next visitors will be alltoo aware that they conceded 11 in all competitions against the Blues,including a 7-0 victory that must still be fresh in the minds of manyof their players.
The Potters have lost both their games so far, although they must count themselves unlucky that a Jon Walters 'goal' against Spurs wasnot awarded, despite clearly crossing the line.
Sports pages often highlight the unrest in the dressing room and even a manager of Tony Pulis's experience must find it hard these daysto keep a big squad happy, focused and motivated.
This summer the Potters withdrew from the Premier League's new arrangements for reserves and promised to arrange fixtures againstsimilarly non-aligned sides. No fixtures have yet appeared on the clubwebsite.
Reserve games generally feature a loose amalgam of youngsters, players in rehab and fringe first-teamers. They may not be ideal butthey do provide a competitive environment to improve match-readinessand be seen by management and supporters. Others who opted out areFulham, Birmingham and Spurs.
Harry Redknapp made it clear that with extra pressure on his Champions League-qualified squad, he wanted a more flexible roster. 'Itgives you the option of fixing up a game where and whenever you wantrather than being tied to a fixture schedule which can sometimes provedifficult around first-team games,' he explained.
Without competitive games ambitious players, or those returning from injury, may have to arrange a loan move or simply rely on the usualdaily training to attain 'match fitness'.
Last March Stoke's no.2 goalkeeper Asmir Begovic played alongside other first team aspirants Amdy Faye, Andy Wilkinson and Louis Moultagainst the reserves of the club he quit in January, Portsmouth.
It was a rare outing for him, and a few weeks later he was forced into action in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge, with the score at 0-2 and Steve Sorenson hobbling off. It ended up a7-0 win for the Blues and ring-rust may have played a part.
On Saturday lunchtime we can all enjoy watching Arséne Wenger grapple again with the home bombardment from a Sam Allardyce team. As ahost the current Ewood manager is unbeaten in the league againstArsenal since 2002, including spells at Bolton, Newcastle and Rovers,notching up four victories and three draws.
Following recent drubbings there, struggling West Ham's last win at Old Trafford, in May 2007, seems a distant memory.
Man City will travel to the Stadium of Light on Sunday with great confidence - they have won four of their last five at the stadium.
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