Chelsea vs Bolton: Team News, Likely Line-ups & Predicted Score

Chelsea welcome Bolton Wanderers to Stamford Bridge on Saturday with the Blues desperate to end a five game win-less run that has seen them drop outside the top four and facing an uphill battle to stay in the Champions League.

Manager Andre Villas-Boas came under scrutiny this week after his decision to drop several experienced players against Napoli backfired and there were reports of heated exchanges between him and Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard.

The visitors have an awful record at Stamford Bridge but with the apparent turmoil surrounding Chelsea at present, this could be a good chance for Owen Coyle to turn things around.

Team News

AVB will have to make do without captain John Terry, who has been ruled out for up to six weeks after having surgery on his knee injury. That is likely to mean Gary Cahill and David Luiz continue their partnership at the heart of the defence.

Jose Bosingwa is also out after picking up a hamstring strain against Napoli and Fernando Torres is also a slight doubt after suffering from illness in recent days.

However, the positive news is that Juan Mata is expected to be fit after breaking his finger in midweek.

Owen Coyle has a host of injuries to contend with as Kevin Davies, Marcos Alonso, Tyrone Mears, Ricardo Gardner, Chung-Yong Lee, Stuart Holden, Sean Davis are all out.

Mark Davies is expected to overcome a hamstring injury while January signing Marvin Sordell should return to the bench.

Likely Line-ups

Predicted Score:

Looking at the two teams on paper suggests there should only be one winner in this game, but as we know, football doesn’t work like that. It’s clear the Chelsea squad has problems behind-the-scenes that are affecting their performances on the pitch, but i would expect AVB to recall the likes of Cole, Lampard and Essien to the starting eleven tomorrow.

Despite their problems, i still expect the home side to have enough to beat Bolton on Saturday. Chelsea 2-0 Bolton.

What are your thoughts on the game? What will the score be? Please leave your opinions in the comments section….