Chelsea vs Norwich City - e-Football Preview

Article by e-Norwich City Correspondent Colin Rowe

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I went to Stamford Bridge about this time last year and saw Norwich win 2-3. Admittedly it was the FA Youth Cup final, not the Premier League, but maybe it is an omen.

For the first time since the early weeks of the season, Norwich have found themselves in the relegation zone, although only on goal difference, with just two games to go.

Survival is not out of the question yet, but there has certainly been an impending sense of doom surrounding Carrow Road and the Y’Army faithful this week.

So is there any hope for the boys in yellow this weekend?

On the face of it the answer is an unfortunate and resounding no.

Courtesy of a pair of blue double-deckers, Chelsea beat Liverpool at Anfield last weekend to put themselves back in the title race before the Route Masters went in for servicing allowing Atletico Madrid to deny John Terry et al a Champions League Final appearance.

This means Chelsea need a win this weekend to keep up any hopes of silverware this season.

However, Norwich have a lot to play for as well and we can but hope the team are determined to atone for last weekend’s lacklustre performance against Manchester United.

Chelsea also had tough games against Atletico midweek and versus Liverpool the weekend before so perhaps the players will be starting to fade.

Other than this there is little for City fans to get excited about as our defensive frailties and goal-scoring flaws continue to hamper any progress.

However, as Sunderland proved a couple of weekends ago, Chelsea are not invincible at home and any kind of result will be good news ahead of the final days home game against Arsenal.

The good news ahead of this weekend is Joseph Yobo might be fit to face Chelsea and there are no fresh injury worries for Neil Adams.

Following last weekend’s sketchy performance at the back it will be interesting to see if Sebastian Bassong returns to the team or if Adams keeps with Turner and Martin.

Tactically, it is anybody’s guess.

Many were surprised Norwich showed such little aptitude at Old Trafford, particularly given the half-decent performance against the Anfield mob the weekend before, as long as you ignore the first 10 minutes.

However, Norwich cannot afford to sit back and absorb pressure at Stamford Bridge against what is, attacking limitations aside, a far better team than United.

The only good news is it is unlikely Chelsea will park the bus against a team like Norwich so maybe, just maybe, there is a chance for something.

Even a draw would not be a bad result in West London on Sunday, assuming Sunderland, Fulham and Cardiff fail to pick up points in their Saturday games.

If City can keep themselves at least in with a shot on the final day anything can happen and Arsenal, safe in fourth probably, will certainly have at least one-eye on the FA Cup the following weekend.

It’s not all over yet.

Predicted Line-Up: Ruddy, Whittaker, Martin, Yobo, Olsson, Howson, Johnson, Fer, Redmond, Snodgrass, Hooper

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