QPR v Chelsea : In pursuit of Manchester

An in-form Chelsea line-up in their first West London derby since 1996 at Loftus Road aiming to surpass the Manchester clubs in the table.Second place is up for grabs as the one of City or United will drop points when they play earlier on Sunday.

Frank Lampard of Chelsea in action during the UEFA Champions League match between Chelsea and Genk.

The Chelsea juggernaut has gained steam in October,moving within one point of United and the demolition of Genk in the Champions League was the perfect icing on the cake for AVB’s men.

Chelsea Formation

Last week’s win over Everton saw Chelsea’s best performance this season. Their fluidity in attack was astonishing at times with Mata starring in the playmaker role. He will be restored along with Sturridge,Terry and Drogba who were rested against Genk.

Ramires (injured) and Fernando Torres(suspended) will miss out with Florent Malouda picked ahead of Meireles or Romeu to replace Ramires in midfield.

Frank Lampard grew in stature as against Everton as the game went on, proving a good foil to the dynamic Mata. Juan Mata has taken over from Lampard in forcing play and opening up defences, but Lampard still has those trademark runs to the penalty box and lovely floated passing in him. The absence of Ramires will be a massive miss as he provides pace and flair to the midfield,something that will be key to stopping Barton and Taarabt on Sunday.

QPR haven’t got going yet at home,failing to win an of their last eight games.A mundane start to the season is no surprise as Neil Warnock overhauled much of his first team for life in the Premier League.

Ex-Chelsea man Shaun Wright Philllips and fellow newcomers Joey Barton who complained about Adel Taarabt’s work rate this week were expected to make an impact but have failed to-date.Their 6-0 thrashing at London rivals Fulham was a difficult pill to swallow for the fans but they still remain optimistic about the prospects of hosting Chelsea.

“The set-up is solid. We’ve got an owner [Tony Fernandes] who is ambitious, someone who likes to interact with everyone, meet the fans in the pub, chat on Twitter, talk to the players – S.Wright-Phillips

Match Facts

• Didier Drogba will surpass Gianfranco Zola as the second highest capped overseas player with 313 apperarences,marginally trailing keeper Petr Cech at 322
• Chelsea haven’t lost to promoted teams in 63 games, since 2001
• Daniel Sturridge and Frank Lampard have scored 4 league goals each so far this season
• Chelsea have allowed the joint-fewest shots on target this season (27)
• Last weekend’s strike by Heidar Helguson is the only home goal scored by one of QPR’s own players over 376 minutes this season.