José Mourinho allotted just 20 mins celebration time to Sunday’s Capital Cup final victory.
Attention then turned to Wednesday`s contest in East London. Chelsea will face a West Ham side eager to bounce back from their abject 3-1 home unhinging by Palace on Saturday morning.
Big Sam Allardyce will be eyeing his crosstown betters with a glint in his eye – similar, perhaps, to the one Mourinho had Sunday – at the prospect of facing a team on short rest.
In American sport parlance, Wednesday night`s encounter at the Boleyn Ground might be deemed ‘a classic trap game` for the league leaders. One of those games that seems a near automatic W, but on closer examination conceals danger.
Though at least on paper, it`s hard to identify the source of any such danger: Chelsea are eight places above West Ham and have a goal difference 28 better despite playing a game less.
And José loves East London. His teams have a 100% away record against the Hammers, averaging a robust 3.5 goals a game.
Further examination does very little to give Big Sam reasons to be cheerful: his head to head record against Mourinho doesn’t include a single win in six attempts – though he has at least managed two draws.
Common sense and precedent seem to have ganged up against the claret and blue and their mountainous Midlands-born manager; only good old biology seem to be on their side in the shape of the extra day`s rest.
But, while Mourinho`s game plan against Spurs at Wembley was primarily aimed at giving the North Londoners all the rain-sodden turf they needed to tire out their legs, it had the added benefit of preserving Chelsea`s as they sat back.
All the above could be grounds for over-confidence tomorrow night – in a lesser bunch than this Chelsea group.
Despite just claiming their first silverware, Chelsea know that picking up the three points Man City dropped v the Reds will be pure gold; another nail in the coffin carrying City`s increasingly moribund championship aspirations.
By Stan Wenners
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