Goal : 413

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Chelsea v Blackburn - live!

Press the auto-refresh button for the latest action. Click here for the latest scores around Europe. And email your thoughts to rob.smyth@guardian.co.uk16 min "4-Phil Brown-2" says Niall Mullen. "Next!"15 min A gorgeous back flick from Cole, his first positive contribution, puts Anelka through on goal but he was a fraction offside.14 min Big Evil has been thinking outside the box. "You know, I'd really like to see Joe Cole at the base of that diamond. His game is more complete after his time with Jose Mourinho and he's got a work ethic to make it work there. I doubt that he's the solution at the tip of the diamond. He isn't fast or direct enough to be a top, Robben-style winger, and he doesn't have the ruthlessness to match Lampard's attacking productivity. Of course Ballack, Deco and Essien have all been eyed for the role, and Joe isn't an obvious candidate there but neither was Pirlo so many years ago." Not for me. I think he has the discipline, the selflessness and the conscience to be a deep-lying midfielder, but probably not quite the awareness. I might be wrong, though; usually am.13 min Lampard curls a free-kick over from 25 yards. Unusual to see him not engage the keeper, or at least get a deflection off the wall.12 min "4-D-2" offers Mark Crack. Not bad, but it will take society a long time to accept anything that doesn't have only numbers in it. Maybe it'll become a generational thing. The old school will put everything as 4-4-2/4-5-1; my generation will put it as 4-1-2-1-2 or, at a push, 4-D-2; and the Twitter generation will put is as LOL!!!!!!11 min A fine effort from Lampard drifts just wide. Ballack on the left wing played the ball back to him, 25 yards out and in too much space. Lampard took a touch and then wobbled a fabulous strike towards the top, far corner. It beat Robinson but went just wide.9 min "How about 4 (diamond symbol*) 2?" asks Jimmy McManners. It's concise, it tells you all you need to know. But it just doesn't look right..."We need Jonathan Wilson's take on this. Come on Wilson, switch that Yugoslavian League 1987-88 DVD off and join the Big Debate.* We can't insert the actual diamond symbol in our publishing tools, for reasons far too boring to explain, but I'm sure you can picture it.8 min "As I recall, the last time someone sneaked into your bedroom to criticise your lovemaking technique, the quote was, 'You're too selfish'," says Mac Millings. "But it wasn't your fault. You were on your own, after all."7 min The bus has been parked and the pattern for the game set. I don't blame Blackburn for playing 9-0-1 – far from it – but I reckon there are only so many of these inevitable home victories you can endure before the last bit of your soul disappears.5 min The increasingly error-prone Carvalho faffs around a bit and is robbed by Pedersen, but he recovers to win the ball on the edge of his own area just as Pedersen was attempting to shift it onto his left foot for the shot.3 min "Surely we should just call it a 4-4-2?" says Gregg Bocketti. "Essien is a midfielder, as is Cole. It's just a narrow 4-4-2, with points." Nah, because there's maybe 30 yards between Essien and Cole. If we have 4-2-3-1 we can't call a diamond 4-4-2. This is the best discussion I have ever had.2 min "When did you last win a game Phil'" says Matthew Towers, continuing Phil Brown Day. ""I don't look on it as when. I look on it as who, and why."1 min Joe Cole misses a sitter after 29 seconds. An absolute sitter. Lampard clipped a gentle ball in from the left side of the box and Cole, clearly onside because of Blackburn's staggered defence, headed wide of the near post from seven yards. What a start to his ascent to greatness.1 min Blackburn are assuming the position in white shirts and red shorts. Chelsea kick off from right to left."Pedantic question," says Mark Crack. "Which of the four points of the midfield diamond is Joe Cole playing at?"Yes, very good. I'll be sure to reciprocate by sneaking into your bedroom tonight to point out the myriad flaws in your lovemaking technique.An email. A whole one "Was a bit confused looking at the Chelsea line up; you know, 4-1-2-1-2," says Anthony O'Connell. "Thought it was a mistake then I remembered diamond. So it should read 4-diamond-2 just to avoid confusion for idiots like me." It's an interesting question, this. No, really. Any formation with more than four lines looks ludicrously pretentious, but that's just the kind of guy I am how else do you list a diamond? 4-diamond-2 isn't the most elegant way of putting it.Seven reasons why Chelsea will win today They had an inexplicably iffy home record last year – only 16 wins from 28 in all competitions – but this year they have won all seven, conceding only one goal in the process. Oh and Blackburn have lost the last eight away from home. Can we all go home now please?Team news Joe Cole has been in some interesting positions in his time, but this is the one he really wants: at the point of a midfield diamond. It feels like he's waited his entire career for this moment. Even though he's 27, I'm still not sure we know exactly how good Joe Cole is, because he has been squeezed into other positions all his life. Who knows, in five years' time we might look back on this game as the start of Joe Cole's ascent to greatness. That'd be nice, because he seems like a thoroughly decent guy and he is blessed with charming ability.Anyway, enough of that hopeful guff. Here's the team news from our news wires: England midfielder Joe Cole started his first league game since January but left-back Ashley Cole was sidelined with a knee injury as Chelsea looked to return to the top of the Barclays Premier League.Branislav Ivanovic moved to left-back with Juliano Belletti remaining at right-back while Ricardo Carvalho returned to partner John Terry after being rested for the midweek Champions League win over Atletico Madrid.Salomon Kalou, despite his two goals in midweek, was on the bench with Didier Drogba returning to the attack in his place.Striker Franco Di Santo, on loan at Blackburn, was ineligible against his parent club while in-form David Dunn was also missing with flu with El-Hadji Diouf and Jason Roberts spearheading the attack.Brett Emerton was recalled on the right while defensive pair Christopher Samba and Pascal Chimbonda were ruled out because of flu and a calf strain respectively and were replaced by Gael Givet and Martin Olsson.Chelsea (4-1-2-1-2) Cech; Belletti, Carvalho, Terry, Ivanovic; Essien; Ballack, Lampard; Joe Cole; Anelka, Drogba. Subs: Hilario, Malouda, Paulo Ferreira, Deco, Kalou, Sturridge, Bruma.Blackburn (4-1-4-1) Robinson; Jacobsen, Olsson, Nelsen, Givet; Nzonzi; Diouf, Emerton, Andrews, Pedersen; Roberts. Subs: Brown, McCarthy, Reid, Kalinic, Hoilett, Salgado, Jones.Referee Alan Wiley (Staffordshire)Preamble? Preamble-crunch more like! Let's proceed straight to the intravenous injection of hard team news.Premier LeagueChelseaWolverhampton WanderersMinute-by-minute reportRob Smythguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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945 days ago
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Goal : 154

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TEAM NEWS: CHELSEA V BLACKBURN ROVERS

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chelseafc .com | 945 days ago | 154 Ballers sent

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Goal : 157

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guardian .co.uk | 945 days ago | 157 Ballers sent

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Wilkins: Blackburn's Di Santo will return to Chelsea

Chelsea No2 Ray Wilkins has confirmed Franco di Santo will return from his loan at Blackburn Rovers in January. read more

tribalfootball .com | 946 days ago | 63 Ballers sent

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Chelsea's Ashley Cole: I'll Be Fit To Face Blackburn Rovers

Left-back will be in action for Rovers' visit...

goal .com | 946 days ago | 327 Ballers sent

Premier League Table
Team Pts Pl W L D +/-
1 Manchester United 80 38 23 11 4 41
2 Chelsea 71 38 21 8 9 36
3 Manchester City 71 38 21 8 9 27
4 Arsenal 68 38 19 11 8 29
5 Tottenham 62 38 16 14 8 9
6 Liverpool 58 38 17 7 14 15
7 Everton 54 38 13 15 10 6
8 Fulham 49 38 11 16 11 6
9 Aston Villa 48 38 12 12 14 -11
10 Sunderland 47 38 12 11 15 -11
11 West Bromich 47 38 12 11 15 -15
12 Newcastle 46 38 11 13 14 -1
13 Stoke City 46 38 13 7 18 -2
14 Bolton 46 38 12 10 16 -4
15 Blackburn 43 38 11 10 17 -13
16 Wigan 42 38 9 15 14 -21
17 Wolverhampton 40 38 11 7 20 -20
18 Birmingham 39 38 8 15 15 -21
19 Blackpool FC 39 38 10 9 19 -23
20 West Ham 33 38 7 12 19 -27
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12. Charlie Adam 12
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17. Asamoah Gyan 10
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