Chelsea vs Norwich

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2001/2002

English FA Cup Chelsea 4-0 Norwich City 16-01-2002
English FA Cup Norwich City 0-0 Chelsea 05-01-2002

1994/1995

English Premier Norwich City 3-0 Chelsea 10-12-1994
English Premier Chelsea 2-0 Norwich City 20-08-1994

1993/1994

English Premier Norwich City 1-1 Chelsea 15-01-1994
English Premier Chelsea 1-2 Norwich City 16-10-1993

1992/1993

English Premier Chelsea 2-3 Norwich City 12-09-1992
English Premier Norwich City 2-1 Chelsea 19-08-1992

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Chelsea vs Norwich preview

Chelsea aim to keep their march towards the Premiership title with victory over strugglers Norwich City on Saturday.

The Blues took a valuable point against Premiership champions Arsenal at Highbury last Sunday, though manager Jose Mourinho is sure to expect all three points against The Canaries.

Both clubs have not met each other since January 2002 when Chelsea disposed of their East Anglian counterparts in an FA Cup third round replay.

Nigel Worthington's side will be buoyed by their crucial 3-2 victory at home to Bolton Wanderers last Saturday - a result that took the Norfolk club out of the bottom three.

Norwich, however, have found scoring goals hard to come by and the likes of Mathias Svensson and Darren Huckerby will have a daunting task in trying to break down Chelsea's stingy rearguard.

Chelsea have no injury worries ahead of the Stamford Bridge clash, with centre back Robert Huth recovering from an ankle injury, but unlikely to feature against The Canaries.

Mourinho is expected to stick with the same squad that earned a 2-2 draw with The Gunners last Sunday.

Norwich also look set to be unchanged from the squad that beat Bolton at Carrow Road, with Thomas Helveg, Youssef Safri and David Bentley likely to continue in midfield.

Striker Leon McKenzie has recovered from a back injury, but is likely to start on the substitutes' bench while Simon Charlton looks again set to start ahead of skipper Adam Drury.

Midfielders Gary Holt (lung infection), Damien Francis (fractured cheekbone) and Phil Mulryne (groin) all remain on the sidelines.

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Team news

Chelsea have no major injury worries, so Jose Mourinho will keep the line-up that started against Arsenal.

Robert Huth is back in training following an ankle injury but is unlikely to be included.

Norwich will stick with the team that beat Bolton, with fit-again striker Leon McKenzie settling for a place on the bench.

Skipper Adam Drury will also be among the substitutes after being dropped for the first time in his Norwich career.

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Probable Line Ups

Chelsea (from): Cech, Cudicini, Babayaro, Johnson, Ferreira, Bridge, Gallas, Tiago, Carvalho, Terry, Lampard, Smertin, Cole, Parker, Duff, Kezman, Gudjohnsen, Robben, Drogba, Gudjohnsen, Geremi, Makelele.

Norwich (from): Green, Ward, Edworthy, Doherty, Fleming, Charlton, Bentley, Helveg, Safri, Jonson, Svensson, Huckerby, McKenzie, Drury, McVeigh, Jarvis, Shackell, Brennan, Ward.

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BIG-MATCH FACTS

CHELSEA will celebrate Christmas top of the tree, irrespective of the result against struggling Norwich, and could go into the festivities revelling seven points clear at the apex. Jose Mourinho's side have lost just twice in 26 matches since his arrival. They top the Premiership by four points from Everton, having won more games (12), lost fewer (one) and shipped fewer goals (eight) than any other club. It's the first time in their history the Blues have been top on Christmas Day, but the side leading the way on 25 December have only gone on to the win the title in 44 of 105 previous occasions, and just three times in the 12 preceding seasons of the Premiership era.

The Londoners have accumulated 20 points from a possible 24 since losing to Manchester City in mid October. They've also not lost a Premiership match at Stamford Bridge in ten months, winning ten and drawing four since the loss to Arsenal.

Goals from Frank Sinclair and Paul Furlong on the first day of the 1994/95 season were enough for Chelsea to complete a 2-0 victory over Norwich for their first and only Premiership victory against the East Anglians in six Premiership meetings.

NORWICH CITY doubled their winning tally with an odd goal in five victory over Bolton last time out. That lifted them out of the relegation zone, one point above the danger line with four teams underneath them in the table. But they still go to Stamford Bridge with the Christmas wish of becoming the first side to take three points from the venue this season, with their first maximum on the road in the top flight for one day over ten years. The last one was also in London, against Crystal Palace.

The match pits the Premiership's weakest first half team with the strongest second half outfit. The Canaries have scored just three goals in the first period this season and turned round in front just once. By comparison, Chelsea have ended only one second half with less goals than the opposition. Indeed they've netted 22 of their 33 Premiership goals after the break, and have been particularly dangerous in the first 15 minutes following the interval, when they've scored nine times.

The Canaries have enjoyed the better of the exchanges against Chelsea in the League since their first contest in 1961. They lead the head-to-head standings by 12 wins to eight and have won four of the six Premiership meetings.

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SEQUENCES/RECENT FORM

CHELSEA

1st 40 points
Highest achievable after Saturday's games:
STAY TOP, but go seven points clear
Lowest could fall: Remain leaders

Won 19 and lost two of 26 League and Cup matches under Jose Mourinho.
Unbeaten in eight Premiership games.
Won six and lost two in the top flight, since losing 1-0 at Manchester City on 16 October.
Won more (12), lost fewer (one), conceded less (eight goals) and dropped least points (11) than any other club in the Premiership this season.
Won nine and drawn two of the 11 top League contests in which clean sheets have been kept.
Conceded the opening goal on fewer occasions than any other club in the top division. Won one, drawn one and lost one of the three matches in which the opposition has opened the scoring.
Second strongest team in the first half of Premiership matches, in which 11 goals have been scored and four conceded in 17 outings.
Turned round at half time leading in eight top League games. Only Arsenal can match that 47% success rate.
Strongest team in the second half, with a slightly better record than Everton.
Top of the Premiership's "Last Six Current Form" table with 14 points out of the possible 18.
Holding the best disciplinary record in the top tier (no red cards, and 16 yellow).
Have one more point than at this comparative stage last season, when 39 points were banked after the first 17 and 18 games and the side went on to finish as runners-up.
Conceded the quickest goal in the Premiership this season in James Beattie's 12 second strike for Southampton at the Bridge on 28 August.
Completed 37 Premiership clashes since losing by more than a single goal (4-2, away to Charlton on Boxing Day 2003).

Undefeated in any competition at home (nine wins, three draws).
Arsenal and Manchester United are the only other clubs still with unbeaten home records in the highest League.
Won six and drawn two of the eight Premiership games at Stamford Bridge, keeping an unsurpassed six clean sheets in the process.
Only Everton and Liverpool have also recorded six home victories in the top division.
Scored 12 goals in the last five at home.
Conceded more than a single goal just once at the Bridge this season (2-2 draw with Bolton on 20 November).
Shipped just three League goals at home. Only Manchester United can match that in the highest echelon.
Undefeated in 14 home League games.
Won 10 and drawn four, since the 1-2 reverse by Arsenal on 21 February.

NORWICH CITY

16th 15 points
Highest achievable after Saturday's games: 14th
Lowest could fall: 19th

Won just two Premiership matches this season. West Brom are the only remaining club with just one victory.
Drawn nine times in the top division - that's more than any other club.
Scored first in only two highest League duels - that's fewer than any other club. Both were drawn (home to Crystal Palace and Blackburn).
Come from behind more often that any other side in the highest echelon (eight times).
Holding the weakest record in the first half of Premiership games.
Turned around in front in only one of 17 matches, and behind in 11 of them.
Only three goals have been scored in the first period, and all of those in the middle 15 minute segment.
Drawn all three games in which a clean sheet has been kept.
One stalemate shy of 900 draws in their League history, and 700 post war.
Collected 36, 28 and 24 points from the first 17 games of their three previous Premiership campaigns, and 39, 31 and 27 after the first 18 games in 1992/93, 1993/94 and 1994/95 when eventually finishing third, 12th and 20th respectively.

Yet to win away from home in any competition (five draws, four losses).
Southampton and West Bromwich are the only other clubs without an away Premiership victory.
Drawn five and lost three of eight away Premiership games this term.
Failed to score in four of the last six League games on the road.
Pocketed five points on their Premiership travels. Only Southampton (two) and West Brom (three) have secured fewer.
Drawn five times on the road in the highest League - that's more than any other club.
Not won in 19 top flight away games.
Drawn seven and lost 12 on their Premiership travels since beating Crystal Palace 0-1 in south London on 17 December 1994.

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KEY PLAYER NOTES/POTENTIAL MILESTONES

CHELSEA

Petr CECH has kept more clean sheets in the Premiership than any other keeper this season (11).
Scott PARKER was once on loan to Norwich.
Eidur GUDJOHNSEN is a hat trick away from 50 Premiership goals for Chelsea.
Frank LAMPARD continues to break the Premiership's record for successive appearances by an outfield player. Should he figure, the England midfielder, will be making his 126th consecutive League appearance.
There is some argument as to whether LAMPARD has already reached 50 career League goals or is on 49. This relates to West Ham's opening goal in the away Premiership match against Crystal Palace on 5 May 1998. Some sources give the goal to Lampard, others credit it as a Curcic own goal. (The Premier League Dubious Goals Panel had not been instigated in 1998.)
If he plays, John TERRY will be making his 200th club career appearance.
If involved, Damien DUFF will be making his 150th top flight appearance.
If he gets a run out, Njitap GEREMI will be making his 50th appearance for Chelsea.

NORWICH CITY

If on the field at kick off, Jim BRENNAN will be making his 200th club career start.

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HEAD TO HEAD TOTALS

League: Chelsea 8 wins, Norwich 10, Draws 12
Prem: Chelsea 1 wins, Norwich 4, Draws 1

HEAD TO HEAD at Chelsea

League: Chelsea 6 wins, Norwich 4, Draws 5
Prem: Chelsea 1 win, Norwich 2, Draws 0

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Chelsea vs Norwich

Manager Jose Mourinho insists he has no plans to make any new signings during the January transfer window, despite reports Chelsea have had a bid for Spanish winger Joaquin turned down by Real Betis.

Mourinho admitted there are a host of players around the world he admires, from Carlos Alberto at his former club Porto to Milan's Brazilian striker Kaka, but he stressed Chelsea do not need to add to their superstar squad.

In fact, Mourinho is having enough trouble trying to keep all his current players happy. He responded to reports that Joe Cole has been frozen out by urging authorities to increase the number of substitutes so he can include all his star names in the match-day squad.

"I do not want to sign any players in the January transfer window. I just want to keep my players and avoid injuries," said Mourinho.

"The hard thing for me in England is to have only five players on the bench. I go to Arsenal and have to leave Joe Cole and Alexei Smertin in the stands. Why? They should be there to give me more options."

Mourinho believes his side can achieve things domestically and added: "I think we can do good things in England. We need to do something special. For Chelsea to win the Premiership would be something special.

"They did it once in their history, 50 years ago, and if we can do it with a young team and a manager just arrived in the country, it would be special."

Mourinho has no major injury worries for the clash with struggling Norwich at Stamford Bridge and received a boost as German international Robert Huth returned to training following the ankle injury he picked up while on international duty.

However, he is unlikely to be included in the squad as Mourinho is almost certain to stick with the line-up that started against Arsenal.

Almost all of the Chelsea players cost more individually than the entire Norwich squad put together.

But Canaries boss Nigel Worthington believes if his side concentrate on playing to the best of their abilities, the Barclays Premiership leaders could be in for a surprise.

"It's not something that scares me," said Worthington. "Chelsea are highlighted every week and we know all about them.

"We'll be looking to work hard, pass the ball and play well. If we do all those things anything can happen.

"Chelsea haven't lost a home game this season and we haven't won an away game - football is a crazy game and shocks do happen."

However, Worthington accepts his side will be up against some of the game's top talent.

"They are all good players first and foremost," the Ulsterman added.

"I think Frank Lampard will need to be watched very closely because he's got a great knack of breaking forward and scoring goals.

"Eidur Gudjohnsen is a very good goalscorer and obviously Damien Duff and Arjen Robben pose a big threat on the flanks with their skill and pace - that's four to start with."

Norwich chalked up only their second league win of the season last weekend, when they twice came from behind to beat Bolton 3-2 at Carrow Road and move out of the relegation zone.

That was achieved with a depleted team following injuries to midfield regulars Gary Holt, Damien Francis and Phil Mulryne.

It has, though, allowed the likes of Thomas Helveg and youngster David Bentley to step into the gaps, and Worthington is pleased with the way his players have responded.

"It's about players adapting to different roles within the team and being prepared to work hard - and that's exactly what we saw last week," he said.

"The lads are looking bright, they are enjoying their work and now it's about carrying that over."

Worthington is likely to stick with the same starting XI from the Bolton game.

Striker Leon McKenzie is fit again following a back injury, but will probably have make do with a place among the substitutes after Mathias Svensson`s double strike against the Trotters.

Skipper Adam Drury is expected to be on the bench after the full-back was dropped for the first time in his Norwich career last week, with Simon Charlton stepping in.

Holt (lung infection), Francis (fractured cheekbone) and Mulryne (groin) are still out.

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Draw??? Twisted Evil

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FT 4-0