Ballack calls a two-horse race

MICHAEL Ballack dismissed Liverpool's title challenge yesterday and predicted a two-horse race between Chelsea and Manchester United.

Only goal difference separates Liverpool from Chelsea at the top of the table, but the Germany midfield player believes the Merseyside club is more suited to the UEFA Champions League because its squad lacks the depth to compete for the entire season.

Liverpool has won one Champions League and reached another final in four seasons under Rafael Benitez, but Ballack's views will not go down well at Anfield. Liverpool has been in the top two all season and became the first side to win a league match at Stamford Bridge in 4 1/2 years last month when it beat Chelsea 1-0.

"It's always the big four that everyone speaks about, but it's still about Chelsea and Man U," Ballack said. "Arsenal are already behind, which makes it very difficult for them. Liverpool are very good at this moment, but they are always a club for the Champions League, partly because they can put all their focus on one or two matches.

"But when you look at results and squads over the past couple of seasons, I think us and Man U are just a little bit stronger."

In yesterday's games, Roman Pavlyuchenko scored an early goal to give Tottenham a 1-0 win over 10-man Blackburn and lift Harry Redknapp's team out of the relegation zone.

Spurs outplayed Rovers for long spells at White Hart Lane, even before Blackburn lost left back Martin Olsson in the 39th after he received his second yellow card. The defender was also at fault for the goal. He tried to beat Aaron Lennon but lost possession, and the winger burst down the right flank and pulled the ball back to the unmarked Pavlyuchenko. The Russian striker beat former Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson with a first-time shot.

Lennon repeatedly created openings for Spurs with his weaving runs, and Olsson was sent off for hauling the winger down.

"Aaron's a terrific player," Spurs coach Harry Redknapp said. "He's a threat, he carries the game to the opposition, he's got pace, he excites people and his confidence is sky high at the moment."

While Spurs climbed out of the last three spots, Blackburn slipped to second last. Wigan, which hosts Everton overnight, also dropped into the relegation zone.

In the other game, West Ham won 1-0 at Sunderland to end a run of seven games without a win and inflict a fourth home loss in a row on the Black Cats through a Valon Behrami goal.

Scolari Still Invite Robinho

Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari still hasn’t given up on his summer target Robinho and announced that the Stamfort Bridge side's doors are “always open for him ”.

Chelsea were linked with the Brazilian international attacker throughout the summer but on the final day of the transfer window, Manchester City snatched the player for a 32million deal from Real Madrid.

During that time Scolari was fuming with Anger for not having being able to bring Robinho to Stamford Bridge and claimed that the former Real Madrid man could have been the best player in the world if he was at Chelsea.

"I am sure that Robinho would be the best player in the world if he came to play at Chelsea," he told Brazilian daily O Globo. "The Chelsea doors are always open to him."

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - CHELSEA - TERRY AIMING FOR KNOCKOUT STAGES

Chelsea captain John Terry wants the Blues to bounce back from their Roma mauling to make sure of a place in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

The club head to Bordeaux on Wednesday looking for a victory to erase the nightmare 3-1 defeat in Rome.

Chelsea gave the French side a 4-0 hammering at Stamford Bridge and Terry is confident they can bounce back from the disappointment of the Rome game.

"The lads bounced back from the disappointment of Rome with everyone showing a great attitude to give a great performance in Blackburn (a 2-0 win)," said the England skipper.

"Blackburn is a notoriously tough place to go but with the bad weather and Rome behind us, it was an even tougher fixture.

"Rome apart we are not conceding many goals and Nicolas Anelka is on fire, not just with his goalscoring but in his all-round link-up play.

"It is tight at the top both in the Premier and the Champions League, so we cannot afford to slip up.

"The defeat in Rome put a little bit of a bad taste in our mouths and was a bitter reminder that we have to keep on winning until the other teams crumble around us.

"It is not just the management who can be important after a result like the one in Rome, it is all the backroom staff.

"They play a big part in getting us right. Darren, the young chef, brings his guitar along now and sings a few songs. There were a few Elvis Presley numbers played before the Blackburn game."

Although Anelka is in the best form of his Chelsea career, Luiz Felipe Scolari will have Didier Drogba available for the Bordeaux match even though he is serving a domestic suspension.

But it is the timely return of Germany midfielder Michael Ballack that has team-mate Deco drooling.

Ballack played half-an-hour as a substitute in the 3-0 win over West Brom last week and is set to start against the French side.

"It is good for us to have him back because he is a great, great player," said Deco.

"We need more players because we are playing many games and have some injuries.

"It is difficult to play against him because he is a strong player, very competitive and experienced. I have played against him three or four times for Portugal."

The Drog Returns Again!

Didier Drogba is set to return to the Chelsea side as they prepare to face Champions League opponents Bordeaux on Wednesday. The Ivorian has missed the first match in a three game ban that was imposed after he threw a coin into the crowd during the Carling Cup match at Stamford Bridge in which Chelsea were beaten by Burnley.

However, the ban does not apply to European matches and, after Chelsea could only stutter to a goal-less draw last Saturday against Newcastle, manager Phil Scolari will be hoping that Drogba will give his attack the bite that they lacked in the league game.

His team mate Florent Malouda has spoken in support of Drogba's return saying: It will be a good thing for us because with what is happening now. I think he will be angry and show he has things to do for the team."

The French winger continued: "Didier is the type of player who can find a solution when you play these teams but as you can see Nicolas Anelka is doing well at this moment."

He added: "We had the players and the mentality to reach victory against Newcastle but we have to keep on trying and we hope the next game at home will find the solution."

Chelsea will need record 97 points to win league title, says Luiz Felipe Scolari

Chelsea only head Liverpool on goal difference despite having dropped just seven points from the opening 13 games of the season.

And manager Scolari believes it will take a record-breaking campaign to guarantee Chelsea their third title in five years in his debut season in charge.

The Brazilian, who spoke glowingly of the harmony inside his squad, said: "We know that if we want to win the Premier League, we need to win 85 per cent of the points on offer.

"We have a focus for the Premier League games. Three points is important for every game. But we have a good balance and the players know this.

"After the games we lost, we showed the players why we lost and they tried to change that for the next game. In each case, in the next game we have played well."

Scolari's 85 per cent target equates to 97 points over the season, two more than Jose Mourinho's Blues side accrued to set the current record mark and take their first title in 2005. After Manchester United's 2-1 defeat at Arsenal, which has left them languishing eight points behind Chelsea and Liverpool, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said: "We have got to get above 85 points to have a chance of winning the league, so we must keep going for it."

Chelsea are behind the schedule set for them by Scolari, although back-to-back wins over Newcastle today and Bolton next week would take them within a fraction of the target figure.

Scolari added: "I need to look at the schedule again. After we have played Newcastle and Bolton I will have a better idea about the points we have and what we wanted to have. I will tell you then."

The Brazilian, however, was far more emphatic about the value of a squad willing to exchange views and opinions without it descending into damaging acrimony.

And while he pointedly insisted he was not referring to Arsenal, Arsene Wenger or William Gallas, the contrast between the sweetness and light he described at Stamford Bridge and the apparent civil war across the capital could not have been more evident.

Scolari, set to have Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Ashley Cole and Petr Cech all back this afternoon, added: "Having a good atmosphere in the squad is 50 per cent, minimum, of what you need to win a game, because if that atmosphere is not good, you start the game in a bad situation.

"It is something the players create between themselves and with me and my staff. But once it is there it is easy." Scolari insisted that, for all his image as a hardliner, he actually encourages argument between his players - but only when it is for constructive purposes, and on the condition that nothing is allowed to fester.

"I want the players to speak their minds, to talk between themselves and me, even if it's negative," he added.

"We need to look and talk and think about what has happened, before games, even at half-time. But after they have spoken, it is my time.

"Bad results can create problems.

But what is important is that you've involved the players so they understand one bad result doesn't change our focus.

"In that time what you have to say i s: 'Remember, remember, remember; OK, go'. I'm the man who needs to decide what happens."

Scolari said he had been in such situations many, many times, but that he was happy for players to speak their minds as long as they did not breach his code of respect for the structure of the club.

"Sometimes you give the players the chance to say something and they go too far," he explained. "Then we need to say: 'Look, the position is this'.

"I am a coach, and at times I am a friend or a father too, because I am older than them and have had more experiences.

"But when I am a coach, I need to be able bring a player into my office and tell him the way we have to follow and if it is required, to say: 'You are wrong; out'. My job is to solve the problem and finish it."

LAST 11 WINNING POINTS TOTALS
2007-08: MAN UTD 87PTS
2006-07: MAN UTD 89PTS
2005-06: CHELSEA 91PTS
2004-05: CHELSEA 95PTS
2003-04: ARSENAL 90PTS
2002-03: MAN UTD 83PTS
2001-02: ARSENAL 87PTS
2000-01: MAN UTD 80PTS
1999-00: MAN UTD 91PTS
1998-99: MAN UTD 79PTS
1997-98: ARSENAL 78PTS

Lampard fit for Chelsea's Premier match with Newcastle

LONDON, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Chelsea coach Luiz Felipe Scolari was slightly relieved as England captain Frank Lampard is expected to be fit for the Premiership leaders' home match on Saturday.

The midfielder missed England's win in Germany on Wednesday with sore ribs but will return to the field for Chelsea this weekend when they host Newcastle United at Standford Bridge.

Joe Cole is also back in the squad and goalkeeper Petr Cech is also fit again after recovering from a calf strain that kept him out against West Bromwich Albion last week.

Striker Didier Drogba, however, begins a three-match ban, while Scolari was sweating over his Portuguese contingent who played the international friendly for their country in Brazil.

"I didn't receive Deco, Jose Bosingwa or Paulo Ferreira because they arrived from Brazil at 6pm (on Thursday). After 15 hours flying it's impossible to train," he told Chelsea's website.

Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari underlines squad importance

The Brazilian was adamant that he would not discuss the situation at Arsenal, yet was happy to outline the "very, very good atmosphere every day" at Chelsea, a quality he considers fundamental to the team's success.

"If you don't have a good atmosphere you will start the game in bad condition," he said. "I think [it's importance to the club is] 50 per cent minimum. If you are happy, your job is fantastic. We created that atmosphere and after this, it is easy."

Chelsea captain John Terry was openly critical of the team following the recent defeat against Roma but, unlike Gallas, there was an emphasis on collective responsibility rather than any individual incident. Scolari says that he encourages his players to speak frankly, whether exchanging positive or negative views. "John Terry may be critical because he is more angry than other players," he said. "But, in the dressing room, all of the players are critical. The players respect my level and I respect the players. We have lines.

"We talk – I understand, the player understands, the board understands, we finish the problem. They are very professional and I like this so much. My authority is the normal authority. Sometimes I am a friend, a father and sometimes I am a coach. Sometimes, as a coach, I need to say 'you are wrong'."

Scolari's man-management has extended to his supportive handling of Dider Drogba following the coin-throwing incident that has resulted in a three-match Football Association ban that will rule him out of today's game against Newcastle.

It is also understood that he has been fined two weeks' wages for the lapse in discipline, but Scolari said: "Didier did not go to the pitch with the coin, Didier is not the man that started it."

Scolari also expressed his hope that Michael Ballack will extend his contract beyond next season. "He is young and plays very well, if he wants, I want and if Chelsea have a deal it's fantastic," he said.

Although top of the league, Chelsea are one point adrift of Scolari's "85 per cent" ratio that he regards as necessary to be sure of winning the Premier League. It is a standard that would result in a record-breaking haul at the end of the season of 97 points.

Although Drogba is suspended, Scolari is likely to welcome back Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and Joe Cole to his squad after the England trio all missed the 2-1 win against Germany on Wednesday. Petr Cech is available again, while Alex could also return.

Anelka expresses sympathy for Drogba

CHELSEA striker Nicolas Anelka has expressed sympathy for team-mate Didier Drogba who was given a three-match ban by the Football Association after admitting a charge of violent conduct for throwing a coin into the crowd.

"Didier threw back a coin that supporters had chucked at him. It's not something serious. It's a gesture like any other," Anelka said of the incident in Chelsea's Carling Cup defeat by Burnley.

The full article contains 75 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.

Chelsea VS Newcastle United

VS

Chelsea face Newcastle at home on Saturday with some of the injured players making a comeback this weekend, while others still sit and wait. Cole and Cech are confirmed, Lampard is a very slight doubt. Ballack is back, but the newly returned Drogba is banned for 3 matches and won't be making an appearance until December.

With 6 players still out with injuries, the bench line is looking rather sparse. But the squad is full of talent.

So what will the starting line look like? Here's my prediction.


Cech
Bosingwa - Ivanovic - Terry - Bridge
Mikel
Lampard - Deco
Cole - Anelka - Malouda


Bench: Cudicini, Ferreira, Mineiro, Sinclair, Ballack, Kalou, Woods

Newcastle at times has proven difficult, and Chelsea has struggled at home at times, although the last Premier League match at Stamford Bridge had a fantastic result. So here's hoping that the boys can keep the momentum going.

My Verdict: A win of course

EPL 2008-09 Season: English life suits Scolari but Chelsea come first

LONDON: Luiz Felipe Scolari has quickly grown to love life in England but the Chelsea manager has put sight-seeing to the back of his mind as he tries to keep the Londoners on top of the English Premier League.
Scolari and his family have settled well in their new home near Chelsea's training ground in leafy Cobham, south of London, but the Brazilian has made only a handful of trips into the capital because he is so focused on winning silverware this season.

Like Arsene Wenger, who once claimed he only knew the way to Arsenal's stadium, training ground and Heathrow airport, Scolari is too consumed by success to worry about trips to Big Ben and the Tower of London.

That didn't change this week ahead of Newcastle's visit to Stamford Bridge today, even though he had only a handful of players to work with due to the international friendlies.

"My life in England is a normal life as a coach. I have more time for the club, for training, and I spend some time with the family when I have time for this," he said.
"My family like to stay in England, my son is studying at a beautiful, big school and he visited some more places than me and has more friends.

"London? No, I have visited three or four times when I was free with my family, but when I go to London it is to play at Stamford Bridge!"

Scolari has more pressing concerns as he waits to see whether Frank Lampard and goalkeeper Petr Cech can shakes off their injuries.

Seven other first team players are expected to be out of action too, as Alex, Joe Cole, Juliano Belletti, Ricardo Carvalho, Michael Essien, Ashley Cole and Franco Di Santo are all still struggling.

With a third of the season now played, the signs are looking good for the Blues.

West Bromwich Albion VS Chelsea - Match Result.

0 - 3

Nicolas Anelka continued his free-scoring form as Chelsea regained leadership of the English Premier League with a 3-0 rout of bottom club West Bromwich Albion in Saturday's late kickoff.

Anelka has prospered since Luiz Felipe Scolari took charge at Chelsea.

Chelsea head Liverpool on goal difference with both teams on 32 points after 13 matches.

Champions Manchester United are eight points adrift, with a game in hand, in third place.

Full-back Jose Boswinga opened the scoring for Chelsea on 34 minutes at The Hawthorns with Anelka all but wrapping up the three points with a double strike just before halftime.

It was the French international's seventh goal in his last three Premier League games and continued his

improved Chelsea form since the arrival of manager Luiz Felipe Scolari at the start of the season.

West Bromwich manager Tony Mowbray had predicted a tough test and his worst fears were confirmed as a comprehensive defeat leaves them propping up the standings on 11 points.

After a quiet start, Chelsea found their rhythm and Frank Lampard tested Scott Carson with a powerful drive.

A superb strike from Boswinga gave the Blues the lead after 34 minutes.

There appeared to be little danger but Boswinga suddenly unleashed a powerful left-footed drive from 25 meters out which Carson could not prevent from finding the back of the net.

After 38 minutes Anelka doubled Chelsea's lead as the excellent Florent Malouda headed the ball into his path and he ran on to dink the ball past Carson.

In first half injury-time Anelka struck again from a narrow angle with Salomon Kalou giving the assist this time.

Anelka, who had kept Didier Drogba on the bench, had chances to complete a hat-trick after the break.

The first came as he unselfishly chose to set up Deco rather than shoot from 12 meters out and later Abdoulaye Meite threw himself in front of his goalbound shot.

Malouda should have capped a fine individual performance with Chelsea's fourrth but shot across the face of goal with only Carson to beat.

Scolari was pleased to see his team back to their best after a penalty shootout defeat to Burnley in the League Cup in midweek and was particularly pleased by Anelka's contribution.

"When you receive the ball one or two times, 10 times, and you don't score, some players in the team lose confidence in him," Scolari told the Associated Press.

"But when he receives the ball one or two times and scores, players try to give more chances to Anelka for him to score more."