Searching for offense
Coventry bids to upset short-handed Chelsea again
Posted: Thursday January 14, 1999 07:32 PM
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Vialli is short of strikers and the player-manager probably will field himself against Coventry Ben Radford/Allsport |
LONDON, England (AP) -- Despite sitting proudly atop the Premier League,
Chelsea has two big problems as it bids to stay there by beating
lowly Coventry at home on Saturday.
Top scorer Gustavo Poyet and strikers Tore Andre Flo and
Pierluigi Casiraghi have been ruled out for several weeks through
injury.
And Coventry is the only team to beat the Blues in the Premier
League this season.
Since the Sky Blues edged the royal Blues 2-1 at Highfield Road
on the opening day back in August, Gianluca's team has gone 20
games unbeaten.
With second place Aston Villa not in action until Monday it
looks like Chelsea, currently ahead on goal difference, will open a
3-point lead for at least 48 hours before Villa hosts Everton.
But who's going to score the goals against Coventry?
Poyet, who has been Chelsea's most influential midfielder as
well as scoring 11 times, is out of action for up to three months
with a knee injury. Worrying for the Blues, the tall Uruguayan was
out of action for most of last season with an injury to the same
knee.
Casiraghi has already been ruled out for the rest of the season
after knee surgery while Flo collected an ankle injury in the 2-0
FA Cup victory at Oldham 12 days ago, is on crutches and could also
be out for three months.
Although Chelsea is noted for having a huge squad of big-name
players, Vialli is short of strikers and the player-manager
probably will field himself against Coventry in partnership with
fellow Italian Gianfranco Zola. If he doesn't, young striker Mark
Nicholls may face the Sky Blues.
The good news for Vialli is that his defense looks rock solid.
With central defender Michael Duberry back to his best form in
partnership with Frank Leboeuf and Albert Ferrer and Marcel
Desailly supporting, the team hasn't conceded a goal since a 1-1
tie at Manchester United in mid-December.
That rearguard will come under attack from a new-look Sky Blues
strike force with the in-form Darren Huckerby, who has scored two
hat-tricks in successive weeks, teaming up with Australian striker
John Aloisi and veteran Scottish international midfielder Gary
McAllister prompting from behind.
If Chelsea loses to Coventry once again and with Villa idle
until Monday, Manchester United can jump into the lead by winning
at Leicester.
The Reds are two points behind on 38 points and have returned to
form after a shaky period which included a rare home loss to
Middlesbrough.
Alex Ferguson's squad is virtually back to full strength and may
even loan Dutch striker Jordi Cruyff to Spanish club Celta Vigo
this week.
Defending champ Arsenal is fourth and goes to last place
Nottingham Forest which will be under new manager Ron Atkinson for
the first time.
In a marked contrast to Chelsea's form, Forest hasn't won for 18
Premier League games, has collected only 13 points and is seven
short of the safety zone.
Next to last Charlton, which has lost eight Premier League games
in a row and has only 16 points, hosts Ruud Gullit's Newcastle on
Sunday while second from last Southampton, upset by division two
Fulham in the FA Cup on Wednesday, has a tough game at Liverpool.
Fifth place Leeds hosts Middlesbrough, which has slipped to
ninth despite a hard-earned 0-0 tie with Villa last week, while
Wimbledon has climbed to sixth and will be confident of avoiding
defeat at 12th place Tottenham.
West Ham, which was ousted from the FA Cup by division three
Swansea on Wednesday, hopes to rebound by beating Sheffield
Wednesday at Upton Park while the other Premier League game is
Derby vs. Blackburn with Rovers manager Brian Kidd aiming to
stretch his record to eight games unbeaten since he moved to Ewood
Park from Old Trafford.
Division One Sunderland defends its 9-point advantage against
third place Ipswich, which has surrendered second place to
Birmingham City on goal differential.
Birmingham, coached by former Sampdoria player Trevor Francis,
visits mid-standings Barnsley.
The Scottish Premier League is taking a mid-winter break and
will return Jan. 23 with Rangers four points ahead of Kilmarnock
and 10 ahead of defending champ Celtic.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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