Chelsea – QPR 02.01.2013

Chelsea manager Rafa Benitez has one main problem in front of this match – the goalkeeper Petr Cech is doubtful with an ankle injury.

Cech was substituted at the halftime against Everton and the reserve goalkeeper Ross Turnbull spent one half between the posts. Most probably Turnbull will start against QPR. And that’s the first reason for my pick. Turnbull is maybe a good goalkeeper, but the absence of Petr Cech is chance for QPR strikers.

The second reason why I expect goals is the Blues captain Frank Lampard. He scored both goals against Everton in the last match and now is only one goal behind the club all-time leading goalscorer Kerry Dixon. Lampard has 192 goals to his name at the moment and I am sure he will try to score again.

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QPR is in series of three consecutive defeats. They lost from Newcastle, West Bromwich Albion and Liverpool. The atmosphere in the squad is very bad at the moment, specially because QPR are on the last position on the table with only 10 points. However, something else is important for my pick – four of the last five league matches finished with over 2.5 goals.

Last time Chelsea and QPR played at Stamford Bridge was some eight months ago. The Blues won in a match with seven goals – the final score was 6:1 . It is too much to expect seven goals again, but at least three should be scored in London.