Nigeria Content Online

Chelsea manager,
Carlo Ancelotti, will remember vividly events of September 26, 2009 at
the JJB Stadium. Chelsea were cruising in the Premiership with six
straight victories but were brought crashing with a 3-1 defeat by
Wigan. Petr Cech was also sent off in that fixture. Chelsea got their
revenge in the best possible way – an 8-0 hammering to win the
Premiership and set a record for goals scored in a season – 103.

But all that pales
into insignificant history as the second match of the 2009/2010 season
for the Blues looms. Chelsea look for an encore to the 8-0 drubbing.
Wigan already have the ignominy of been beaten on the opening day by
newly-promoted Blackpool, who surprised everyone with a refreshing 4-0
away victory. Ancelotti, wary of Wigan’s Jekyll and Hyde character, is
demanding total concentration from his stars. “They didn’t start well
(against Wigan) last year but we have to learn to play against teams
with strong motivation,” he said. “Our aim is to show continuity away
from home. Although we did very well last season, away we had some
problems. We need to change the direction of this. Last season we won
the first six games – that was key to winning the title. We want the
same this season; and we have started very well. Now we need to look to
the next game.” New signing, Ramires, is expected to start his first
game for Chelsea; and Mikel Obi may have to make way for the Brazilian
in the first eleven.

Wigan Athletic
manager Roberto Martinez was left deflated with the first day heavy
defeat but he expects his team to be ready for Chelsea on Saturday.
“It’s not about the opposition, it is about ourselves,” he said. “We
have to focus on the level of performance and make sure we learn from
what happened today because it was clearly unacceptable the way we
approached the game. We have to bounce back; we’ll be ready for
Saturday.” He is however not sure of Charles N’Zogbia who was left out
of last weekend’s shock season-opening loss to Blackpool and it has
been claimed the 24-year-old, who has been linked with Birmingham and
Sunderland.

Nasri blow

Arsenal will be
without injured Frenchman, Samir Nasri, for the visit of Ian Holloway’s
motley crew who have already announced the Tangerine’s return with the
4-0 away win at Wigan. Blackpool are playing a second consecutive match
away because their ground is not yet ready for opponents. Nasri’s
injury is not the only blow that Arsenal have to deal with, as new
signing – Laurent Koscielny’s late red card means he will miss the
Blackpool match. Johan Djourou is recovering from injury and could make
the team. The other option is the hugely inexperienced Havard
Nordtveit, while Alex Song is the only other viable option. Song,
however, is short on fitness. If he is fit enough to play, he may have
to play in midfield.

Frenchman, Sebastien Squillaci, who is under Arsenal’s radar, will
not be in place at least for the visit of Blackpool. There are also
doubts over the fitness of Cesc Fabregas. He failed to make the squad
against Liverpool because of a stomach bug and lack of match fitness;
and a late fitness test will be done on the World Cup winner on
Saturday morning. Denilson is also on the treatment table, but Andrei
Arshavin is expected to have a greater influence on proceedings at the
Emirates Stadium as he was virtually non-existent at Anfield. Emmanuel
Frimpong, who could have filled the midfield void, has also been ruled
out for nine months after he tore his cruciate ligaments in a Reserve
match in Dublin. However Arsene Wenger has been known to pull rabbits
out of hats. Injuries are not a new thing to Wenger but they normally
occur in the middle to the end of the season, this term, he has to
start with it.