Chelsea is a nice part of London. You've got some great bars and if you're feeling hungry some nice places to eat too. It would be an even nicer part of London if we could leave with the points tonight.
And there is nothing to say we can't either. Against Arsenal the other day we went into the match at 7/1 and right now we're 9/1 at PaddyPower and that is a great price for eleven v eleven.
Don't get me wrong, Chelsea are going to be a tougher opponent than Arsenal and they are one of two sides that I think can win the league this season, but they are going to lose a few games this season and we all know Mourinho hasn't got a great record against us. But I'm not suggesting you get on us to win tonight.
And after Saturday there will be a confidence about our players. They will know that if they stick to what they are supposed to do that opportunities will present themselves. If the likes of Gabby go into this game like he did against Arsenal, opportunities will also be created.
But this isn't me predicting we will win. I think I did say something about getting seven points from our opening three games and I still think that's possible. I also think we can beat Liverpool at the weekend. So you sort of have my prediction for tonight.
But even as I write this post, I'm reminded that Mourinho has never lost a Premier League match at Stamford Bridge. All I'm saying is, it has to happen some time and while I'd love it to be us tonight, my prediction can not be that we will win. We can and I hope we do, but I think the smart money tonight, if you're an Aston Villa fan and you like a bet, will be on us to draw and at 9/2 at PaddyPower that might well be worth a punt too.
The match
We'll see a change tonight, I think we all know that, mostly because Baker is injured but also because the manager has new players and because Yacouba Sylla is back in contention for a place.
Although, I if I had to take a guess, I'd say the only change we'll start with will be that of Clark in for Baker, but don't take my word for that.
There are others that could just as easily play a role. Our bench against Arsenal contained Steer, Clark (came on for Baker) Okore, Bacuna (came on for Weimann), Tonev, Helenius and Bowery and all of them, apart from Steer, will be wanting to play and all of them stand a very good chance of playing from the start or coming on.
And while we all know we're going to give it a go tonight, the manager might see this as a good opportunity to let one or two of his new signings get involved early in the season.
Key player
This is a new thing for this post, but I wanted to mention Benteke. He scored twice against Arsenal, but the main man for me was Gabby. He created the chances and also ran Arsenal all over the pitch, but tonight, I'm thinking we're going to see Benteke shine.
Updates and all that
So, that is my mini-preview. Match kicks off at 7.45pm so we'll have team news an hour before that and likely updates throughout the day.
And seeing as I'm not putting too much emphasis on my prediction for tonight, because anything is possible, your sensible ones below would be nice.