WEST BROMWICH ALBION v CHELSEA
Barclays Premier League Saturday 17th November 2012,
3pm The Hawthorns
MATCH
NOTES
Albion and Chelsea have met on
this date once before - A First Division match back in 1984, Chelsea winning 3-1
at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea have gone three league
matches without a win - their worst sequence under Roberto Di Matteo. They had
previously taken 22 points from the opening eight games.
Albion have not recorded
back-to-back victories over
Chelsea
since 1979.
The Baggies’ tally of 20 points is the most the club have had
at this stage of a top-flight season for 30 years.
If midfielder Chris Brunt plays a part in the game he will
equal the record of most Premier League appearances made by an
Albion player. The record is
currently 106, held by former captain Jonathan Greening.
Albion have lost more games (11) and conceded more
goals (31) against Chelsea than any other club in Premier League competition.
Albion's last six games: W W L L W D
Chelsea's last six games: D D L W W W
TEAM
NEWS
Albion
Goalkeeper Boaz Myhill will again deputise for Ben Foster,
who is recovering from groin surgery whilst Gareth McAuley and Youssouf Mulumbu
will face late fitness tests due to hamstring problems.
On-loan
Chelsea
striker Romelu Lukaku is ineligible to face his parent club.
Steven Reid and Jerome Thomas are unlikely to figure despite
both returning to training.
Squad from:
Myhill, Daniels, Jones, McAuley, Olsson, Tamas, Dawson, Jara
Reyes, Popov, Ridgewell, Mulumbu, Yacob, Brunt, Dorrans, Morrison, El Ghanassy,
Gera, Fortune, Odemwingie, Long, Rosenberg.
Chelsea
England defender Ashley Cole
could return for Chelsea following a hamstring injury but John Terry (knee) and
Frank Lampard (calf) are out.
Boss Roberto Di Matteo will assess those in his squad who
played for their countries in midweek, the likes of David Luiz, Mata, Oscar and
Hazard.
Squad from:
Cech, Ivanovic, Azpilicueta, Luiz, Cahill, Cole, Bertrand,
Mikel, Romeu, Ramires, Mata, Oscar, Hazard, Moses, Marin, Torres, Sturridge,
Turnbull.
QUOTES
Baggies' boss Steve Clarke:
"It would be wrong to say it is just another game because I
had a great association with
Chelsea. Nobody can take that
away from me. It was good times. But I've moved on and I have to do the job now
for Albion.
"I could probably still have been at
Chelsea now if I'd chosen to
take that path. I decided to take away the safety net to challenge myself and
push myself. It's a decision I made a number of years ago and I'm comfortable
with that decision."
"This game is a good benchmark for us. It's not dissimilar to
when Manchester
City came a couple of weeks ago and we wanted to challenge ourselves against
them. We lost the game but we came out of the game with a higher self-esteem, if
you like, because we knew we'd given them a really tough game.
"We'll aim to do that again against
Chelsea on Saturday - but this
time we're looking for a positive result."
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Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo:
"Look at where I'm sitting now, so I'm not so sure it was a
bad thing. That's football. That's life.
“In a manager's career, you're going to get the sack at some
point if you have a long career. It's happened to everybody in the industry, and
it makes you stronger. It doesn't mean you're not a good coach or a good
manager.
“There are many examples of good managers where it didn't
work out with a club. They were successful before and were again after.
“No grudges, no. Not at all. I had a great time. I worked
with a lot of good people there. The supporters were very kind to me as well. I
had almost two years there.
“Despite the fact that last season's game was not a good
memory, because we lost, I can reflect on good memories there.”
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MATCH
ODDS
Result
Albion Win: 14/5, Chelsea Win: 10/11, Draw: 13/5.
First Goalscorer Torres 5/1,
Sturridge 6/1, Long 7/1, Mata 7/1, Odemwingie 8/1, Hazard 8/1, Lampard 8/1,
Moses 8/1, Oscar 8/1, Fortune 9/1, Rosenberg 9/1, Morrison 12/1, Brunt 14/1,
Dorrans 14/1, Gera 14/1, Thomas 14/1, Marin 14/1, El Ghanassy 16/1, Ramires
16/1, Mulumbu 20/1, Cahill 20/1.
REFEREE
Michael Oliver (Northumberland) - Last took
charge of an Albion game in September when the Baggies were knocked out of the
Capital One Cup by Liverpool at The Hawthorns. Also refereed three Albion games last
season - The 3-0 defeat at Arsenal in November, the 2-1 defeat at home to
Norwich City in the FA Cup in January, and the 1-1 draw at Wigan Athletic in
March.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets for the game will remain on general sale to home fans
only until the 3pm
kick-off. The Smethwick End is sold out and there are only a limited number of
seats left in the East Stand. Tickets are still available for both the
Birmingham Road End and West Stand.
WEATHER FORECAST
Partly cloudy but dry, 7°C
FIXTURE HISTORY
The first ever league meeting of the two clubs came at
Stamford Bridge in September 1905, just months after the London club had been
formed. Albion lost that initial Division Two game 1-0 with Bob McRoberts
scoring for the home side. The return game at The Hawthorns in January ended in
a 1-1 draw, Jack Manners the Albion scorer.
Albion's best league victory over the Londoners is 5-2, a
score achieved twice - away at Stamford Bridge in April 1929 when Tommy
Glidden hit a hat-trick, and at The Hawthorns in October 1953 when the
late, great Ronnie Allen notched a treble. Allen had a fantastic scoring
record against the Blues, hitting 14 goals in 19 league games between the
sides.
The Baggies also registered a 8-1 win in October 1945 at The
Hawthorns in a Football League South
meeting,
Ike Clarke scoring four of the goals
The game came just a week after the two clubs had shared 11 goals at
Stamford Bridge, Chelsea coming out on top in that one 7-4.
Chelsea's best victory over
Albion came at Stamford Bridge in December 1960 when five goals from the
legendary Jimmy Greaves helped the Blues to a easy 7-1 victory.
Albion have an awful recent
history against Chelsea, winning just one of the last 21 games. Before that
solitary victory, which came at The Hawthorns in March of this year, Albion had
lost 13 games in a row against the Blues in all competitions.
Albion's last victory at
Stamford Bridge came in November 1983 when Ron Wylie's men beat the Londoners
1-0 in a League Cup 3rd round match whilst the last league victory in
West London came in September 1978, Albion running out 3-1
winners thanks to goals from Cyrille Regis, John Wile and Tony Brown.
LAST LEAGUE MEETING AT THE
HAWTHORNS
Albion
1-0 Chelsea Barclays Premier League Saturday 3 March 2012,
3:00pm
Albion:
Foster, Reid (Tamas 57),
McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell, Andrews, Mulumbu, Morrison, Odemwingie, Fortune
(Long 84), Thomas (Brunt 64).
Subs not used: Fulop,
Dorrans, Shorey, Cox.
Goalscorer: McAuley 82
Booked: Ridgewell 65 (foul), Andrews 79 (foul), Brunt
94 (foul)
Chelsea:
Cech, Ivanovic (Meireles 84),
Luiz, Cahill, Cole, Ramires, Essien (Torres 76), Lampard, Sturridge (Malouda
63), Drogba, Mata. Subs not used: Turnbull, Romeu, Mikel, Hutchinson.
Booked: Cole 85 (foul)
Attendance: 24,838
Referee: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire)
West Brom defender Gareth
McAuley increased the pressure on
Chelsea
boss Andre Villas-Boas with a late winner in the Barclays Premier League clash
at The Hawthorns. McAuley struck eight minutes from time to earn
Albion their first ever Premier League win over the Blues whom they
had not beaten at any level since 1979.
It leaves
Chelsea three points adrift of
Arsenal, winners at Liverpool earlier in the day, in the battle for a Champions
League spot. They were matched for long periods by Roy Hodgson's side who looked
full of confidence after back-to-back wins before McAuley's crucial
intervention. Petr Cech was called into action more often than Albion
counterpart Ben Foster as the home side looked full of creativity. Marc-Antoine
Fortune again impressed in the lone striker's role while Youssouf Mulumbu and
James Morrison shone in midfield.
Chelsea had looked sharp in the
opening 45 minutes but were poor after the interval and were made to pay for
poor finishing by Daniel Sturridge. Peter Odemwingie, presented with the Premier
League player of the month award for February before the game, had a glancing
header blocked from a James Morrison free-kick. Then Chelsea keeper Cech then
had to be alert to finger-tip a fierce Morrison drive over the bar. Chelsea
threatened for the first time when Sturridge seized onto a casual pass from
Jonas Olsson and squared the ball across the Baggies box. But Juan Mata failed
to make proper contact on his attempted volley. Mata did hit the target from a
narrow angle after some neat one-touch football. But Foster was alert to the
situation and blocked his shot at the expense of a corner. Ridgewell came to
Albion's rescue when he blocked a goalbound attempt from Gary Cahill after a
corner from Frank Lampard had dropped invitingly into his path 15 yards out.
Foster showed his class seven minutes before the interval when he leapt
acrobatically to turn aside a fierce Michael Essien effort. The former England
keeper reacted quickly to snatch the loose ball before Didier Drogba could take
advantage. Sturridge should have broken the deadlock after 40 minutes after a
superb pass from Drogba created the opening. But the striker screwed his attempt
wide of the right hand post after having time to line up his shot. Albion ended
the first half with a flourish as Cahill deflected a Mulumbu shot just past the
far post.
Sturridge missed another great chance to put the Blues in
front after 55 minutes. He ran onto a pass from Mata but then lacked the belief
and confidence to take the ball around Foster who had raced out of his area.
Albion were forced into a
change after 55 minutes when Steven Reid limped out of the action to be replaced
by Gabriel Tamas. The home side came back into the game and David Luiz did well
to dispossess Odemwingie after he had taken a pass from Fortune in his stride.
Cech then beat out a fierce rising shot from Fortune. Ridgewell became the first
player to be yellow carded after 65 minutes for a challenge on Ramires. Albion
enjoyed a purple patch and came close on three occasions to scoring in the space
of five minutes. Cech turned over a fierce drive from the impressive Mulumbu and
also reacted sharply to block a low shot on the turn from Fortune. Then it
needed a last ditch challenge from Ashley Cole to deny Chris Brunt as he closed
in on a Ridgewell centre. Fernando Torres replaced Essien after 76 minutes and
within three minutes Keith Andrews had been booked for chopping down the
striker. But after 82 minutes McAuley put
Albion ahead. Ridgewell drove Andrews' chip across the area and
McAuley diverted the ball past Cech. Cole was booked for fouling
Albion substitute Shane Long who
had replaced Fortune.
Sporting Life
CURRENT CONNECTIONS
Baggies’ boss Steve Clarke spent 11 years as a player
with Chelsea between
1987-98, making 421 appearances. He also spent four years coaching the Blues'
first-team.
Chelsea manager
Roberto Di Matteo
spent 19 months in charge of West Brom between 2009 and 2011, leading the club
back to the Premier League in 2010.
Di Matteo's
assistant at Stamford Bridge - Eddie Newton, was also the Italian's
assistant during his time at The Hawthorns. Both men are also former Chelsea
players.
Chelsea's young Belgian international striker
Romelu Lukaku is currently on a season long loan at Albion.
PAST
CONNECTIONS
Amongst the players to have turned out at various levels for
both clubs are: Neil Clement, Shaun Cummings, Warren Cummings, Alan Dickens, Tony Godden, Derek Kevan,
Paddy Mulligan, Frank Nouble, Fred Richardson, Graham Roberts, Fred Rouse, Frank
Sinclair, David Speedie, Kenny Swain and Mickey Thomas.
Former Albion manager Jack Smith was a player for
Chelsea prior to the Second World War; World Cup winner Sir Geoff
Hurst had a short spell as a player at The Hawthorns before later
managing the London club; Ex-Albion player and manager Don Howe
had a spell as Chelsea coach; Former Baggies' goalkeeper Bob Ward would
later act as Chelsea physio.
ALL-TIME LEAGUE & CUP RECORD VS CHELSEA
VENUE |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Home |
62 |
24 |
16 |
22 |
100 |
74 |
Away |
63 |
17 |
16 |
30 |
83 |
125 |
Neutral |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
Total |
127 |
41 |
33 |
53 |
184 |
204 |
LAST
TEN MATCHES AGAINST CHELSEA
DATE |
COMPETITION |
H/A |
F-A |
SCORERS |
GATE |
Sat 03 Mar 2012 |
Premier League |
H |
1-0 |
McAuley |
24,838 |
Sat 20 Aug 2011 |
Premier League |
A |
1-2 |
Long - Anelka, Malouda |
41,091 |
Sat 16 Apr 2011 |
Premier League |
H |
1-3 |
Odemwingie - Drogba, Kalou, Lampard |
25,163 |
Sat 14 Aug 2010 |
Premier League |
A |
0-6 |
Malouda 2, Drogba 3, Lampard |
41,589 |
Fri 26 Dec 2008 |
Premier League |
A |
0-2 |
Drogba, Lampard |
41,090 |
Sat 15 Nov 2008 |
Premier League |
H |
0-3 |
Bosingwa, Anelka 2 |
26,322 |
Sat 04 Mar 2006 |
Premier League |
H |
1-2 |
Kanu - Drogba, J Cole |
26,581 |
Wed 24 Aug 2005 |
Premier League |
A |
0-4 |
Lampard 2, J Cole, Drogba |
41,201 |
Tue 15 Mar 2005 |
Premier League |
A |
0-1 |
Drogba |
41,713 |
Sat 30 Oct 2004 |
Premier League |
H |
1-4 |
Gera - Gallas, Gudjohnsen, Duff, Lampard |
27,399 |
|