PRE-MATCH BRIEFING: CHELSEA V QUEENS PARK RANGERS
TACTICAL BRIEF
The pride of west London is at stake, but far more important for both sides are the three precious points. We look at what might swing them in Chelsea's favour.
Key battles
There is no disguising the huge blow to Chelsea that Petr Cech is absent. The big Czech has been in imperious form this season and was arguably Chelsea's player of 2012 - not least for his heroics in the Allianz Arena.
With Cech's putative successor Thibaut Courtois on a season-long loan at Atlético Madrid, Rafael Benítez must decide between three players whose first-team involvement has been very limited recently.
Promising youngster Jamal Blackman's only experience to date was being on the bench for Arsenal's visit last season.
Hilario, now 37, has not played since August 2011, and even Ross Turnbull, the likely replacement, had not figured since two matches in May prior to coming on for the second half at Goodison.
It was his fourth league appearance and the few saves he had to make with bring him confidence. Turnbull has faced QPR three times previously between 2005 and 2007 with Crewe and Cardiff and kept one clean sheet over two wins and one loss.
Manager Harry Redknapp is still struggling to find the right mix of players and formation at QPR, which may offer Chelsea opportunities to exploit.
He started the 0-3 defeat at home to Liverpool with a 4-4-1-1 system employing former Chelsea winger Shaun Wright-Phillips on the left and Jamie Mackie on the right.
Liverpool, and especially Suarez, found little to stop them in the final third and reaped maximum benefit in the opening half-hour.
The Rs were equally lack-lustre upfront and after 30 minutes Redknapp moved Mackie there to add some bite, then removed the disappointing Djibril Cissé at half-time - the Frenchman looks a shadow of the player who started his Rs career with six goals and two red cards in nine matches.
With a 3-5-1-1 set-up in the second period, Wright-Phillips acting as right wing-back and Armand Traoré left wing-back, no more goals were scored at either end.
Chelsea struggled against the back three of Juventus, but Clint Hill, Ryan Nelsen and Nedum Onuoha are not Bonucci, Chiellini and Barzagli, nor are either Samba Diakité or Stéphane Mbia comparable to Pirlo.
The hassling, all-out effort that just about saved their relegation skins last season often seems absent from the Rs at the moment. Perhaps it has been diluted by the flurry of summer signings, many of whom seem ill-equipped for the scrap that is currently required.
In his winter sales shopping Redknapp will no doubt be looking for Sherpas rather than Mercedes. Yesterday he also admitted a few players took knocks during the weekend defeat and will miss out tonight.
Interim manager Rafael Benítez will probably make changes in his midfield again, with Victor Moses and Oscar pressing for a start after starting on the bench at Goodison. Ramires was deployed in a less usual advanced role against Everton purely to counteract the threat of left-back Leighton Baines.
Frank Lampard, one notch behind the legendary Kerry Dixon on the all-time goalscoring chart, will hope to retain his place and will have noted the space around the edge of the box given to Liverpool by QPR at the weekend.
QPR will also have to find a solution for the problems that Juan Mata is causing teams with his clever decision-making in the centre on the ball at the moment.
Fernando Torres, who hit a hat-trick in this fixture last season, has hit seven goals in eight games in all competitions. An early goal could shatter the visitors' fragile confidence.
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