Season 33 week 10 processing...

Welcome to week 10 already, the season is flying past again. Match Day five in the cup competitions this week could be crucial for some of you so good luck with that.

The reset has been running today.

Data entry starts tomorrow...

WATFORD

Watford play.. Top of the table this week Plymouth! Very tight at the top of the table in the Premiership. When looking at the fixtures list, the manager always thought these two weeks would be big Charlton then Plymouth. However, thought he'd be more in the mix. 
This week see one change with Sterling coming in for the injured Harvey Barnes who has been the sides best player by far scoring 11 goals in 14 games. After asking the Chelsea manager not to injure players.. Dirty Tactics haha! Plymouth look like they are recouping a couple of players themselves Jesus and Philips... Will Haaland make his Debut?!
Champions League game this week Vs Benfica, the side is heavily rotated with Cancelo and Wan-Bissaka coming in at Fullback for some game time, and Smith-Rowe rotating at RW to ensure Sterling only plays one game and reduces the risk of injury...
Rumours surrounding Vicarage Road this is the last time Sterling will be puling on the shirt for Watford alongside Hudson-Odoi and Aaron Wan-Bissaka... Surely the Watford manager wouldn't let 3 players go without replacing... Who would the manager bring in... Gabriel has a nice ring  to it... And the manager is a sucker for a "Lucas"... Lucas Vermisso, Lucas Moura.. 

GENK

Belgium side, going from strength to strength with some of the players finally getting settled in the side. Ryan Gravenberch is brought back into the side to give aging Cabaye a little rest after being sensational scoring 7-7 at AM. Will also be Adam Hlozeks final game for Genk as he looks to join sister club Leverkusen after there lack of goals has been highlighted in Lewandowski's absence. 

As for the CUP, Brian "Brobeast" Brobbey has been Awoken after being called up to the international side and looks to be the main CF at Genk. Rotations required in the CUP to allow Saelmaekers, Dembele and Mahrez some important game time as we reach midway point of the season!

LEVERKUSEN

Leverkusen has stuttered in the last 2 game weeks, dropping 4 points which now puts them into third. Manager has taken full responsibility after injury to Lewandowski and the sale on Son happened to coincide, somethings can't be planned for. Manager is looking for a big response this week Vs Gladbach.. Eden Hazard will need to step up along with Benjamin Sesko who despite scoring last week, manager believes there is more to come and had him on a Individual training program to get him sharper and stronger! And Hlozek comes in who can play right across the front 3 and a proven goalscorer! The side remains unchanged this week.

As for the CUP Nainggolan is injured so Hazard is trying DY to help influence the game more and better understand his team-mates. As proven the Leverkusen side need to rotate or potentially suffer more injuries to key players so in comes Bonucci, Otto, Piszczek, Kossounou and Sarr.

BOTAFOGO

Botafogo have found there ruthless edge after putting Sao Paulo to the sword and scoring 5 last week. Tough game Vs Flamengo this week, Only changes see's Dodo return from suspension. A couple of Brazilian wonderkids are on the move to allow the club to invest in a Spanish International to become understudy to Neymar, not a bad player to learn from! 
Argentinos are the Copa opponents, could be fortunate for Botafogo with Manuel Lanzini looking like he is returning from injury... However, always got to play the XI in front of you!

Schalke

It's all very tight at the top of the Bundesliga, and a trip to attacking Karlsruhe is one to be careful of as they have had success against Schalke before. No tactical blunders this time though as Schalke are being set up to cope! In comes Goretzka to add some steel to defensive midfield...

A home tie v Paris in the CL is a great opportunity to book Schalkes' place in the knock-out phase. A strong side will hopefully give us the best chance. In come Coman and Kulusevski to freshen up the side.

No pre-match reports from me this week as in the US. Sorry. Barca have a huge week with away games at Charlton and Real.

Thanks for the weekly reviews, very interesting as usual.

The Friendly games have kicked off...

League games will kickoff at 1000 hours Wednesday morning...

Champions Cup - Match Day Five results

Charlton 0 Barcelona 2
Milan 2 Chelsea 4

Plymouth 7 Fenerbahce 0
Inter 2 Aberdeen 1

Man City 4 Juventus 0
Bayern 2 Berlin 0

Watford 6 Benfica 2
Schalke 4 Paris 1

Through to the quarter-finals already are Barcelona, Plymouth, Man City, Bayern, Watford and Schalke. Charlton only need a point at Chelsea whilst Chelsea need all three, looking forward to that game on match day six. Inter need only a point from their last game. So the eight qualifiers are almost sorted.

Europa Cup

Villa 1 Gornik 2
Nantes 5 PSV 2

Lazio 1 Dortmund 2
Sevilla 2 Feyenoord 3

Atletico 6 Etienne 4
Arsenal 5 Celtic 3

Genk 2 Monaco 1
Liverpool 0 Rangers  2

Nantes, Feyenoord, Atletico, Genk and Rangers are already qualified for the quarter-finals, but the other spots are very much still up for grabs, so plenty to play for still.

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Champions Cup - Match Day Five results

Charlton 0 Barcelona 2
Milan 2 Chelsea 4

Plymouth 7 Fenerbahce 0
Inter 2 Aberdeen 1

Man City 4 Juventus 0
Bayern 2 Berlin 0

Watford 6 Benfica 2
Schalke 4 Paris 1

Through to the quarter-finals already are Barcelona, Plymouth, Man City, Bayern, Watford and Schalke. Charlton only need a point at Chelsea whilst Chelsea need all three, looking forward to that game on match day six. Inter need only a point from their last game. So the eight qualifiers are almost sorted.

Congrats Rob, Charlton season unravelling quickly….need a big performance in the league this week.

Copa Libertadores

Santos 3 River Plate 1
Nacional 5 Coritiba 0

Botafogo 4 Argentinos 0
Sao Paulo 3 Cristal 1

Fluminense 4 Corinthians 2
Vasco 4 Palmeiras 3

Independente 4 Boca 0
Flamengo 2 Estudiantes 3

Through to the quarter-finals are Santos, Botafogo, yet to drop a point, Fluminense and Independente. Everyone else still needs at least a point to make sure of a last eight spot.

I have to go out for awhile, not sure if I will be back by 1000 hours so the league games will kickoff when I get back...

Some great results in the cup games!

Huge week for Plymouth against Watford. Minor tactical shift sees Gundogan asked to be more combative hoping to win possession in transition and releasing KDB! Fans are crying out for a debut for the red meat eating Norwegian - they won’t be disappointed, though Lukaku keeps his place in the starting XI.

All other teams need to keep ploughing on - Twente have a tough game against Ajax and need to keep winning. Atletico - out of the title race already - are beginning to shift their thoughts to next season. Independiente- with De Paul back at DY - are hoping for another win.

Roll on the games once Paul is back!

Just having a look what the Charlton result means for next round of fixtures.  Like Paul says a draw would be enough although if Gaz wins I'd be out, although by my reckoning if Gaz wins 1-0 our records would be identical, goal difference etc.  How are we separated if that's the case?  Head to head?

On the plus side, my other two sides have good wins and top the group with a game to spare by my reckoning.  Delighted with those results in two tough games

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Champions Cup - Match Day Five results

Charlton 0 Barcelona 2
Milan 2 Chelsea 4

Plymouth 7 Fenerbahce 0
Inter 2 Aberdeen 1

Man City 4 Juventus 0
Bayern 2 Berlin 0

Watford 6 Benfica 2
Schalke 4 Paris 1

Through to the quarter-finals already are Barcelona, Plymouth, Man City, Bayern, Watford and Schalke. Charlton only need a point at Chelsea whilst Chelsea need all three, looking forward to that game on match day six. Inter need only a point from their last game. So the eight qualifiers are almost sorted.

Up the Chelsea reserves, now do I stick with them or play the best 11 on paper next game

Kickoff is imminent as the players cross the white line...

The players are lined up, the ref raises his whistle and blows for the start of this week's games, good luck to everybody this week...

Chelsea 1 Arsenal 0 James on 2 minutes.
Zaragoza 0 Atletico 1 Dybala freekick.

gary@chelsea wrote:

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Champions Cup - Match Day Five results

Charlton 0 Barcelona 2
Milan 2 Chelsea 4

Plymouth 7 Fenerbahce 0
Inter 2 Aberdeen 1

Man City 4 Juventus 0
Bayern 2 Berlin 0

Watford 6 Benfica 2
Schalke 4 Paris 1

Through to the quarter-finals already are Barcelona, Plymouth, Man City, Bayern, Watford and Schalke. Charlton only need a point at Chelsea whilst Chelsea need all three, looking forward to that game on match day six. Inter need only a point from their last game. So the eight qualifiers are almost sorted.

Up the Chelsea reserves, now do I stick with them or play the best 11 on paper next game

We've seen what the reserves can do, obviously know the first team are decent.  Has to be time to give the youth team a run out?

Genk 1 Lokeren 0 Gravenberch on 3 minutes.
Bate 1 Dnepr 0 Benrahma.
Cherry 1 Limerick 0 Delfouneso.
Etienne 1 Montpelier 0 Ganso.

Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0 Loftus-Cheek on 4 minutes.

Ajax 0 Twente 1 Tevez on 6 minutes.

Man United 0 Villa 1 Bailey on 7 minutes.
Bournemouth 0 Coventry 1 Drmic.
Derry 1 Shamrock 0 Lavezzi freekick.

Bayern 1 Dortmund 0 Vinicius Santos penalty on 8 minutes.

Santos 1 Vasco 0 Zeca on 9 minutes.
Wednesday 1 Soton 0 Fornals freekick.
Juventus 0 ACMilan 1 Eriksen.

Genk 2 Lokeren 0 De Ketelaere on 10 minutes.
Mallorca 0 Valencia 1 Inaki.