Chelsea FC vs Valencia CF - Match Preview

Chelsea FC vs Valencia CF

Stadium: Stamford Bridge

6th fixture, Champions League

Expected attendance: 42.000

Coaches: Andre Villas-Boas and Unai Emery

Here we are once again meeting Chelsea in the Champions League and who would have thought its for a spot in the last sixteen as neither team has managed to guarantee a place as Valencia CF failed to win in the first match against Genk and Chelsea lost in the last match against Leverkusen and thus in the last round both team will fight for a place in the round of 16 and there is only one slot left.

Theoretically both Chelsea and Valencia could qualify, but Genk would have to win against Leverkusen and Chelsea and Valencia drawing, which judging from their last game is not going to happen.

Both managers have come out and said they are going for victory and Emery wants Valencia to score early so it can close out the match routinely, although I have a feeling its going to be anything but routinely. With both midfields suffering as Lampard has been under-performing and Ever Banega while traveled to London is supposedly still injured and can't perform its going to be up to the teams attacks where the game is going to be decided. 

Chelsea FC are coming to this match after a series of bad results and sort of a mini-crisis, although they won their last match against Newcastle convincingly 3-0. Newcastle also had a great defensive record prior to that match and so while probably not 100% back to form, Chelsea are looking better and better and from my deep analysis before this match their problem was David Luiz and Frank Lampard. They pretty much performed miserably and are mostly to blame. Hopefully Boas won't realize this and will play both of them against Valencia.

Juan Mata and Sturridge have been the best performing players in Chelsea, with Terry closely following with mostly reliable performances at the back. There has been talk that Anelka has been sold or very close to it and if the reports are true it will mean he won't feature in the team and that leaves them with the old Drogba, still inexperienced Sturridge and the out of form and misfiring Torress. 

Can Chelsea put it together and fire up for this match to beat Valencia and qualify for the last 16 or will they continue in their slump and fail miserably at the hands of Valencia!

Valencia CF on the other hand are coming off a more modest win on the weekend against Espanyol, but it was a hard fought victory and one that will surely boost the team confidence coming to this match against Chelsea. Roberto Soldado has also been firing on all 8 cylinders and scored a goal within minutes of coming on against Espanyol giving Valencia the victory. Tonight we'll need him to be precise and 100% on target if Valencia is to win.

Our midfield will also need to be working 110% to be able to cope with the 4-3-3 formation of Chelsea who are going to have a man more in midfield, although our 4-2-3-1 formation is more flexible in that you can easily put 6 people in attack and 5 people in defense really fast, although that requires a lot of running.

Technical Details Chelsea FC (probable setups):
Formation: 4-3-3
Line-up: Cech; Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole; Ramires, Lampard, Meireles; Sturridge, Drogba, Mata.
Tactics: Medium defensive line, own half closing, three way attacks, free role Mata, mostly short passing.

Technical Details Valencia CF (probable setups)
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Line-up: Diego; Barragan, Rami, Ruiz, Alba; Tino, Albelda; Pablo, Jonas, Mathieu; Soldado.
Tactics: Medium defensive line, all round pressure, positional changes from the wingers, 3 way attacks, mixed passing.

Result prediction

Valencia CF 1-1 Chelsea FC

We are going to go for a quick goal, Emery said that is what he wants so the team will go all in from the beginning and try to get a quick goal. Ultimately I see two outcomes either 1-1 draw or 3-1 win for Valencia.

Valencia CF 2-1 RCD Espanyol - Match Report

In the 5th minute Dealbert was fouled in the penalty area abd Valencia CF given a penalty, with Tino Costa taking it and with a powerful shot in the 90% degrees of the net scoring to put Valencia CF in the lead 1-0. Before the penalty was given Rami actually scored with a header, but of course the whistle was already blown.

Pressing from Valencia CF in the next 5 minutes, but no chance for a goal and Espanyol would threaten in the 11th minute after an throw-out, but luckily no player from Espanyol was close to ball to head it towards goal.

15th minute a good run by Alba on the left and manages a cross, but it couldn't quite found Aduriz.

19th minute Aduriz with a good run after being released by Pablo that results in a shot, but the Espanyol goalkeeper saves his goal. Just seconds after a chance for Pablo on the right and then a shot from Tino Costa, but again the goalkeeper saves.

Espanyol then pushed forward and Rami makes a mistake allowing a pass by him, but luckilly Dealbert was alert and block it in the last moment or it could have been very dangerous.

27th minute almost a chance for Valencia after a good one-two by Topal and Mathieu allowed Mathieu through on goal, but the final ball was missing. Moments later Alba claimed a second penalty after falling in the penalty area after a bit of struggle with a defender, but the referee denied it.

Few actions in a row for Valencia later and a shit on goal after a korner with Aduriz heading the ball just wide off goal.

First half ended with Valencia on the attack and trying to score a 2nd goal, even though Espanyol had more of the possession.

First 10 minutes of the second half were quite uneventful with just one decent chance for Valencia from the left side.

The next 10 minutes till 65th were mostly attacks and tries by Espanyol , but unable to directly threaten Diego on goal. All that attacking play would pay off though as Rami makes a mistake and allowes Moeno to score a goal for Espanyol in the 68th minute.

Nice pass by Jonas in the 75th minute, but Aduriz there failed to react in time and missed a good opportunity.

Soldado would replace Aduriz and just minute after coming on in the 79th minute would score a goal with his head after a corner kick taken by Tino Costa.

Espanyol would desperately try to score once again till the end, but Valencia CF ended up defending and managed to win.

Player Ratings:
Diego 6 - Not tested too much and had one good save in the first half and generally stable on corners and crosses. Did not have a chance for the goal.
Barragan 6 - Did well defensively, but failed to go forward too much and didn't link up with Pablo at all.
Rami 4.5 - Bad match for Rami as he made two crucial mistakes and smaller ones like dribbling in his own half and loosing the ball few times. Guilty for allowing Morano to score as he failed to clear the ball.
Dealbert 6.5 - Positive performance from Dealbert and dealt with everything Espanyol could throw at him.
Alba 7 - Great match from Alba with crucial interventions in the back and great work as well going in attack.
Topal 6 - Simple passing and good defensive cover with few rare forward arrays.
Tino 6 - Scored from the penalty with a powerful and accurate shot, but completely overrun in the midfield and seemed quite tired or unwilling to run. Rather poor performance by him, but he made up for it with his good set pieces play and providing the assist to Soldado with his corner kick.
Pablo 5.5 - Rather anonymous performance with few decent passes and few misplaced passes. Overall did not contribute too much.
Piatti 6 - Started slow, but went on to trouble Espanyol on several occasions with his runs, but as with the rest of the attackers failed to link-up with everyone.
Mathieu 6.5 - Best of the forwards with several good runs and crosses and good link-up play with Alba.
Aduriz 5.5 - Had few runs, but could not find himself in goalscoring positions and realistically didn't have too much support.
Subs:
Bruno 5.5 - Replaced Barragan at half time and did well defensively, but did worse in attack than Barragan.
Jonas 5.5 - Had one good through pass and a shot, but failed to do too much.
Soldado 6 - Came in and scored in his first minute to win Valencia the match. Good stuff.

Valencia CF vs RCD Espanyol Match Preview

Valencia CF vs RCD Espanyol

Stadium: Mestalla

03.12.11; 22:00 CET

17th matchday, La Liga

Expected Attendance: 40.000

Coaches: Unai emery and Mauricio Pochettino

Valencia CF has been in great form the last few weeks with wins in the Champions League and La Liga. We are third position on the table just 4 points behind Barcelona, a feat that would have seemed impossible one or two years ago. Surprisingly though Levante, the other Valencia based club is hot on our heels with just one less point and even though we defeated them in a good fashion 2-0, they seem to be doing pretty well for themselves and are proving to be stiff competition so far.

Valencia CF just needs to continue winning, grinding out wins if it has to and keep close to the big two this season as that is the goal, the overall objective set by the president Llorente and Emery. We welcome RCD Espanyol at the Mestalla today and unlike last season where they were in the top 4 positions with some great defensive displays, Espanyol are at the more modest 9th position on the table right now.

As far as injuries and recovery, Guaita is recovered, but will still not feature just in case and Ever Banega and Ricardo Costa are progressing well, but still got some way to go before they are fit to even be in contention for selection. Victor Ruiz is also in question and probably won't play, but its not exactly sure. In other news Miguel has had a bit of a slip up in his behavior and has missed training by some 30 minutes and as punishment Emery will not include him for this match, which means most likely Barragan is going to start again as he seems to be better than Bruno.

Soldado and Jonas are probably going to be rested and Aduriz and Piatti should take their places. I'd also expect Parejo to feature, but that may be taking it a bit far for Emery and he is probably going to play it safe with Tino Costa.

RCD Espanyol on the other hand are 9th on the table with only 17 points a staggering number of 6 losses so far. They haven't been liking in the back, but have one of the poorest scoring records in the league so far with only 10 goals scored, Valencia in comparison has scored 21 goals. They are also worse when visiting teams and haven't been able to hold out for draws.

Espanyol's last three matches have been decent with two draws and one loss, but they will be hoping for some wins at least in the future if at against Valencia. They are likely to be very motivated for this match and as always I predict that Valencia CF will need to suffer in order to get a result, but we should win over Espanyol and have ease of mind and be comfortable going into the Champions league match against Chelsea!

Result Prediction:
Valencia CF 2-0 RCD Espanyol

Rayo Vallecano 1-2 Valencia CF - Player Ratings

Diego 6 - Did not have too much to do, but did well on the two occasions he had to react. No chance for the goal.
Barragan 6 - Did well defensively not too troubled and was decent going forward as well.
Rami 6 - Did have few header clearances and wasn't particularly troubled, decent display.
Dealbert 5.5 - Mixed bag performance, he did have some nice interceptions and blocks, but had a few lapses as well.
Alba 6.5 - Started really well making some crucial tackles and interceptions in defense and doing well going forward as well, but diminished in effectiveness later on, being passed two times with ease and was involved in the mix up along with Dealbert in Vallecano's goal.
Albelda 6 - Had two good interventions to stop the Rayo attacks progressing, earning a yellow for on of those interventions though.
Tino 6 - Scored a goal and closed down all over the field rather nicely, but not a great performance.
Feghuoli 6 - Always a hard worker and covers a lot of ground going back and helping out in defense, but wasn't too good on the attacking side and apart from the assist did not do much.
Jonas 6.5 - Scored a good goal from a distance and was generally dangerous. Most of his passes failed though, but still a pretty good display.
Mathieu 6 - Had few trademark crosses and provided the assist for Jonas, but again other than that not too impressive.
Soldado 6 - Combined well with Feghuoli on the right leading up to the goal and some good runs deep, but lacked the service today.
Subs:
Aduriz 5.5 - Did have few runs towards goal, but couldn't quite make it. He did come and help out in defense though quite a bit.
Pablo 5 - Apart from being involved in one action just after his arrival went missing and I did not see him again.
Piatti 5 - More active than Pablo and had had few runs, but they all ultimately failed.

Rayo Vallecano vs Valencia CF Match Preview

Rayo Vallecano will welcome Valencia CF at its stadium after eight years of pause and winning promotion to the top division this season. Last time these two clubs played was back in 2003 where Vallecano was destroyed by 4-0.
Since then all but one are still playing for Valencia and yes you guessed rights its David Albelda. All the rest of the golden time guys like Baraja, Angulo, Vicente, etc are now gone. Last one to go was Vicente who currently plays in England's second division.

Rayo Vallecano got promoted this season to the Primera League after playing in lower divisions for 8 years. Rayo Vallecano have so far been decent and certainly the bad start of several bigger clubs like Villarreal, Getafe have allowed them to occupy the quite high 10th position on the table, but that is not to take away anything from Rayo Vallecano as they are playing some good football and are very compact as a unit, as a team. In fact they have a pretty good balance of goals scored and goals conceded and there is no doubt they will be a tough opponent.


Valencia CF on the other hand are coming to this match as the favorites and high from the 7-0 victory over Genk at the Champions League. But that victory should not blind or life from reality our players as reality can hit them in the face real hard and the higher you fall the nastier it is. Valencia CF needs to go into this match fully concentrated and prepared, mentally ready and be ready for a hard fight with lots of suffering in order to win.

This is not going to be a cake walk and we certainly won't be seeing a 7-0 trashing here and hopefully the players will know this and be ready to methodically and patiently chip away at the Vallecano defense until we can score a goal or two and win.

Valencia CF will be without Victor Ruiz though for the first time since he's arrived here and Dealbert is likely to take his place alongside Rami. Ricardo Costa, Ever Banega, Hedwiges Maduro and Sergio Canales are still injured and in the case of the later three they have long term injuries. In fact the earliest to return may be Ever Banega in two weeks or so.

Also most likely to get back on goal in Guaita who has been suffering from a hand injury for some time and wasn't on the goal for Real Madrid. Since Diego Alves did make some big mistakes in that match I think Emery is going to easily put Guaita back between the sticks now that he is supposedly healed.

Valencia CF squad:

Goalkeepers: Guaita, Alves.
Defenders: Miguel, Barragán, Bruno, Rami, Dealbert, Mathieu y Jordi Alba.
Midfielders: Topal, Albelda, Tino Costa, Parejo, Pablo Hernández, Féghouli y Piatti.
Forwards: Jonas, Aduriz y Soldado.

Valencia CF 7-0 KRC Genk - player ratings

Diego 6 - Did not have much at all to do and apart from three saves that was it. Did well to make those though.
Miguel 7 - Did well in defense and provided the assist for Aduriz goal.
Rami 6.5 - Did well enough and had few blocks, but not challenged much.
Ruiz 5.5 - Had two nice blocks and rarely tested, replaced at half time.
Mathieu 6 - Did well enough in defense and provided some good crosses in attack.
Topal 6 - Did good in midfield and then later in defense making some crucial interceptions.
Tino 7 - Very energetic performance, covered a lot of ground and provided good passes, scoring a goal as well.
Feghuoli 6.5 - Covered a lot of ground and made several interceptions in defense, provided decent attacking threat.
Jonas 8.5 (MotM) - Man of the match performance from Jonas, who although was outscored tonight he provided the biggest attacking threat scoring one goal, providing (two)three assists and being involved in most of Valencia attacks.
Pablo 7 - Somewhat reserved in the first half, but improved in the second and became a genuine threat with clever movement and passing, scoring a great goal in the process.
Soldado 8 - Almost man of the match performance, but this time he was outdone by Jonas. Scored a hat trick and was always a threat for Genk.
Subs:
Parejo 5 - Wasn't too visible and didn't do anything of note. Failed to impress once again and his chances are becoming less and less with performances like this.
Piatti 6 - Instant threat and slotted well with the rest of the attackers providing some good runs on the flank, having a shot at goal as well.
Aduriz 6.5 - Came in and in his short time scored a great goal, showing good anticipation, strength and finishing skills. Had two more opportunities, but couldn't quite make it.

Valencia 3-3 Real Madrid - Pre match report

This video clearly shows Valencia CF has been damaged and it should have been 3-3. Higuain should also be given a ban for 3/4 matches for unsportsmanship.