Chelsea have won five of the six games under Liam Rosenior, including the last four in a row, with the last two of those coming away from home. That matches our longest winning streak of the season. Now we have a great chance to extend that winning run as we return to the Bridge, where we face West Ham United tomorrow (Saturday) evening.
That sure is a quick turnaround from Wednesday night, but all we’ve had are quick turnarounds for months on end now, so we should be used to it. We have a couple
more weeks left in this relentless run of fixtures, before we finally get a (mid-)week off in (mid-)February, thanks to the Champions League knockout phase bye we earned with the win in Naples.
And thankfully, not only did we win, we appear to have done so without picking up any new injuries — even Cole Palmer, who played the entire second half. Rosenior confirmed that Palmer is fit to start this weekend, though we may exercise a bit of caution when it comes to actually picking the team (especially with the second leg of the League Cup semifinal against Arsenal looming next Wednesday).
“He came through the other night with two assists and an outstanding performance [vs Napoli]. He is available to start tomorrow [against West Ham] and of course, we are really happy about that.
“We want to make sure all our players are at their top level. […] For a player to start at this level, there has to be a level of fitness.
“[He] has been top in terms of the feedback he’s given and he wants to play football. He wants to play every minute of every game; that is what makes him a special talent. But what we have to do is make it clear to the players when we or I make decisions, it’s in their best interests. I think they’re starting to understand that.”
-Liam Rosenior; source: Chelsea FC
