Chelsea vs. Norwich City: Team News, Predicted Lineups, Live Stream, TV Info
Jose Mourinho has been speaking about the relationship he has with Roman Abramovich, explaining it's one built on trust.
The Chelsea manager says Abramovich and the club's board trust him to turn the Blues' season around after a disastrous run of form.
Since the start of the season, Chelsea have lost seven of their 12 league games and sit 16th in the table.
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They've won just one of their last five in the Premier League, conceding nine goals in the process. Their last home outing came against Liverpool, who put them to the sword with a comfortable 3-1 victory.
Things have been woeful, as Mourinho has acknowledged himself, but Chelsea now seem ready to arrest the slump.
"Nobody gives a four-year contract to a manager if they don't trust the person," Mourinho said in Friday's press conference.
"[...] There is trust and there are reasons for that trust. The power is with the board and they have shown to me and the players that they trust us.
"It's time for us to give a positive answer. I think we are doing this but not in the results."
That starts against Norwich City on Saturday, whose form has been equally as bad as Chelsea's.
The Canaries have also won just one of their last five league matches and sit a mere point above the Blues in the table.
Norwich aren't champions, though. They were promoted back to the top flight only last season, so their league position is to be expected.
They will be buoyed by recent results, too. Not only did Norwich win their last match against Swansea City, they came very close to taking a point away to table-toppers Manchester City.
It took an 89th-minute penalty from Yaya Toure to eventually put them to the sword after a battling display.
We can expect more of the same from Alex Neil's men at Stamford Bridge and Chelsea must rise to the challenge.
Match Details
Date: Saturday, November 21
Time: 3 p.m. GMT/10 a.m. ET
Venue: Stamford Bridge, London
TV Info: Match of the Day, BBC1 (10.30 p.m. UK only)/NBC Sports (U.S. only)
Live Stream: No UK live stream/NBCSN (U.S. only)
Last 5 games
| Oct. 24 | West Ham United 2-1 Chelsea |
| Oct. 27 | Stoke City 1-1 Chelsea (AET) |
| Oct. 31 | Chelsea 1-3 Liverpool |
| Nov. 4 | Chelsea 2-1 Dynamo Kiev |
| Nov. 7 | Stoke City 1-0 Chelsea |
| Oct. 18 | Newcastle United 6-2 Norwich City |
| Oct. 24 | Norwich City 0-1 West Bromwich Albion |
| Oct. 27 | Everton 1-1 Norwich City (AET) |
| Oct. 31 | Manchester City 2-1 Norwich City |
| Nov. 7 | Norwich City 1-0 Swansea City |
Predicted lineups
Both Chelsea and Norwich have virtually fully fit squads from which to choose on Saturday.
Thibaut Courtois and Radamel Falcao will both miss out for the champions, although Branislav Ivanovic is expected back fit after missing the past month with a hamstring strain.
Matt Jarvis is a doubt for Norwich.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Begovic; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Matic, Ramires; Willian, Fabregas, Hazard; Diego Costa
Norwich City (4-4-1-1): Ruddy; Martin, R Bennett, Bassong, Olsson; Redmond, Howson, Tettey, Brady; Hoolahan; Jerome
Key Players
If Cesc Fabregas plays anywhere near the level we saw a week ago in Spain colours, Chelsea should create enough to defeat Norwich on Saturday.
He was excellent in his country's 2-0 victory over England, getting an assist and also playing a part in the second goal.
Fabregas played further forward in that game and was much more of an influence as a result. It helped that Spain played two strikers, giving him more room to operate, so he'll need to overcome the fact Mourinho will stick with just Diego Costa up front.
The most encouraging thing was simply Fabregas' performance, hinting at a return to form.
Nathan Redmond
Whenever Chelsea's defence has struggled this season—which has been often, to be frank—it's been largely down to a failure to cope with players with pace and a bit of craft.
On the opening day of the of the season, it was Jefferson Montero, and now, as Norwich visit Stamford Bridge, Nathan Redmond has the capacity to do the same.
The Norwich wide man has lightning pace, and he will look to expose the Blues on the flanks. He will float centrally, too, making himself difficult to pick up.
Redmond is a goal threat and can create things for his team-mates.
Prediction
Chelsea 2-1 Norwich City
Odds
Home Win: -227
Away Win: +600
Draw: +333
First Goalscorer: Eden Hazard (11/2)
Odds via Odds Shark and Oddschecker
Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes
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