With news coming thick and fast through Greek Fan’s tweets, it’s hard to keep up with the goings-on at Stamford Bridge. So, injuries, formations and ACONs aside, this is what seems to be certain: Daniel Sturridge will get his first Premiership start for Chelsea this coming weekend, away to on-song Birmingham City.
The ex-Man City youngster will finally get his chance to shine following his summer transfer, and will line up alongside Didier Drogba for Saturday’s early kick-off at St Andrews. Indeed, with the chances of Drogba appearing against Fulham in Gameweek 20 looking slim, Sturridge seems certain to lead the line against Roy Hodgson’s men, too.
Carlo Ancelotti’s idea to play Joe Cole and Deco behind Anelka in a new Drogba-less formation that Mark has christened his “January Christmas Tree” is now dependant on both Deco and Anelka recovering from injury, and until the pair are deemed match-fit, Sturridge’s place in the Chelsea starting XI seems guaranteed.
Granted, there’s every chance that may all change, but with Drogba gone till Gameweek 25 at least, Sturridge could, in theory, be looking at a run of fixtures that reads Birmingham (away) Fulham (home) Hull (away) Sunderland (home) Birmingham (home) Burnley (away).
The FPL reality is that the Premiership leaders will be competing through the next couple of games (at the very least) with a striker worth just £5.5m to us managers. Considering the Blues have never failed to score so far this season, an eager-to-impress Sturridge could well find himself amongst the goals, starting this coming Boxing Day.
For a full list of our current Watchlist simply click the link in your top menu or, while you’re here, just click this link.