Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
There is no doubting the fact that Chelsea are simply unstoppable at present. Eight straight wins has taken them to the summit at the start of this Premier League weekend and they will look to make it nine in a row when West Brom come to Stamford Bridge this afternoon.
The past two weeks has seen them two clear huge hurdles after successive victories over both Tottenham and Manchester City. In each game Chelsea have had to come from behind and punished their opposition for not taking the opportunity to kill them off.
It was a 2-1 win over Tottenham at Stamford Bridge while last Saturday saw them run out 3-1 winners at ‘The Battle Of Etihad’ a game which saw Manchester City end the game with just 9 men after Sergio Aguero’s reckless tackle on David Luiz and Fernandinho’s throttling of Cesc Fabregas.
In both those matches Chelsea didn’t particularly start the brightest but whatever Antonio Conte has been saying in his half time team talks has certainly done the trick as they looked like a different outfit after the break. In the past fortnight he has ended up winning the tactical battle over both Mauricio Pochettino and Pep Guardiola.
And it’s that winning streak that has seen Conte been awarded the Premier League Manager Of The Month for November. Not only that but it’s been a clean streak of awards with Diego Costa winning Player Of The Month and Pedro winning Goal Of The Month for his striker against Tottenham.
But could those awards be a jinx going into their clash with West Brom and if anyone knows about being a spoiler it’s Tony Pulis. He loves nothing more than throwing a spanner in the works and will look to do so when he brings his in form West Brom side to town.
The Baggies started the weekend in 7th after a run of form that has seen them go unbeaten in their last four league outings while earning 10 points from a possible 12 in the process. For all the early season pressure that Pulis was supposedly under their is a rare optimism around The Hawthorns as of late.
Last Saturday saw them beat Watford 3-1 in front of their own fans and Matt Phillips earned all the plaudits after a match winning performance. It’s not coincidence that his performances have coincided with The Baggies impressive run of results as of late and he surely must be inline for a Scotland recall next year if these performances continues.
But can they halt the juggernaut that is Chelsea this lunchtime well right now you would have to say that as good as West Brom then probably not. There is a possible change in the starting lineup with Pedro a doubt after picking up an injury in the win against City but Willian is a more than able deputy.
As the old adage goes ‘if it ain’t broke then don’t fix it’ and you can’t see Conte needing to make any changes to the blue machine today. I’ll go for nine in a row as Chelsea regain their dominance at the top of the Premier League as we edge nearer to the busy Christmas schedule. Who will be the team to stop this all conquering Chelsea side?
