Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed that Didier Drogba will return to the Chelsea lineup for their trip to Hull on Tuesday.
Drogba, along with Salomon Kalou, returned from the African Cup of Nations last week but were left behind when Chelsea left for the weekend visit to Burnley. Both are now in contention, with Drogba to start up front with the in-form Anelka.
Elsewhere Ancelotti has also confirmed that both Carvalho and Deco will also start Wednesday’s game but Ashley Cole is a doubt having limped off in the 2-1 win at Turf Moor…
“Ashley Cole we don’t know, we will take a decision tomorrow because he had a problem on his ankle and we have to wait for tomorrow”
Yury Zhirkov will likely shift to left-back if Cole fails to make it. Given that Chelsea face Arsenal in a crucial clash at the weekend, I’d say the chances of Cole being rested on Wednesday were pretty high.
As for Drogba, he will now come right back into our plans for the rest of the season. The Ivorian had been on strong form prior to his departure for Angola, firing five goals in his last six starts. We’ve since seen Wayne Rooney take up the mantle as the big-hitting fantasy striker but Drogba’s return will now give us all plenty of food for thought.
A Drogba price rise in the Fantasy Premier League game looks inevitable, with Drogba’s value dropping from 11.7 in gameweek 19, down to 11.2 right now. We’ve seen 78,000 FPL managers make the move for Drogba with Chelsea’s double gameweek in mind, despite confirmation that he would miss the trip to Burnley. Heavy damage to the Hull defence on Wednesday will surely see the Drogba bandwagon picking up speed. Certainly the thousands of recent Anelka investors will be weighing up an immediate switch for gameweek 25.
The Drogba vs Rooney debate now becomes a major discussion point. The United man undoubtedly has the form on his side, but given that Rooney currently has a missing fixture in gameweek 28, it looks a close call. We also have to consider the likelihood that Rooney will be handed a rest at some point. United face Portsmouth at Old Trafford next, prior to the visit to Villa four days later. Less than a week later, United go to Milan in the Champions League. With that schedule, there will doubtless be suggestions that Ferguson could look to Berbatov and/or Owen to lead his attack against the bottom club Portsmouth.