Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti will be forced to patch his squad together this week, with a mid-week trip to Moscow being followed by another away match against Wolves at the weekend.

Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba will miss both games and the duo were also absent from the side that drew with Villa at the weekend. Salomon Kalou, Daniel Sturridge and Alex, were also notable by their absence on Saturday, as Chelsea failed to break down their opponents brave defence. It wasn’t a bad result, after all some people make Aston Villa betting tips to reach fourth this season.

John Terry played in the Villa game but didn’t look 100 per cent after returning from the back injury that forced him to miss England’s goalless draw against Montenegro. The injury isn’t serious but it will have to be managed by the physios at the club. Terry could do with being rested for the Spartak match, but given the number of players who are out of action, the captain may be forced to play. Michael Essien will be rested but should return to action for the Wolves game in a match the Betfair Football predictions suggest they will win.

With Kalou missing for Chelsea, Ancelotti handed Gael Kakuta his full Premiership debut but will be a bit disappointed with how the Frenchman performed. The young winger showed glimpses of quality but failed when it came to his final ball and will be hoping to be given another chance despite his poor performance.

The injuries forced Ancelotti to name four substitutes – Jeffery Bruma, Fabio Borini, Jacob Mellis and Josh McEachran – who had never started a league match in their careers. McEachran came off the bench against Villa and showed some nice touches. The midfielder is one of the most exciting players to emerge from the Chelsea youth set-up in recent years and will be hoping to break into the first team squad on a regular basis.

Despite the injuries, Chelsea should have enough quality to pick up wins in their upcoming fixtures. Aside from their back to back Champions League matches against Spartak, Chelsea face winnable league games against Wolves and then Blackburn. After those games comes the usually tough match against Liverpool. On current form, it should be walkover for the Londoners. ?

It seems a long time since Owen Hargreaves was considered for a starting shirt for Manchester United, but that could actually be a reality in the coming weeks – and a player of his ability could be crucial as United look to regain the Premier League title from Chelsea.

The England international has not started a game for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side since September 2008 due to chronic knee problems and only played three minutes last season. He suffered more problems during the summer but his doctor claims he is ready to make a long-awaited return.

A player with the defensive mindedness in midfield like Hargreaves has could be a blessing for United, as they have already slipped five points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea due to lost leads.

Against Fulham, Everton and Bolton Ferguson’s men have ended up drawing the game when they had been ahead. That equates to six points lost, and those points could prove crucial come the end of the season, the football odds suggest United could struggle to make up the ground.

Hargreaves provides some real defensive cover in midfield, something the likes of Scholes and Anderson do not and Michael Carrick strives to but unfortunately cannot deliver. If Hargreaves, now 29, can truly overcome his injury nightmare then he could be a real benefit to Ferguson as they look to overtake Chelsea.

Dr Richard Steadman, who is the player’s doctor, told the BBC: “Owen should play some part on Saturday.

“Our physical therapist, Luke O’Brien, has been working very closely with United’s coaches on his rehab.”

The weekend Premier League betting suggests United should beat West Brom, so it will be a good game for him to make his comeback.

A rather more puzzling injury situation seems to revolve around Wayne Rooney. The striker has been left out of games by Ferguson due to an ankle injury, but the player himself claims he has been injury-free all season.

It will be interesting to see if the conflict between Rooney and his manager rumbles on, and if this, or the striker’s private life problems, affects United’s Premier League title ambitions over the rest of the season.

Fulham’s summer signing Moussa Dembele thinks the Cottagers are a hungry team who are primed for success in the Premier League, and believes he can develop into a key player for Mark Hughes’ side.

The Belgian striker joined the club for £5 million from Dutch club AZ Alkmaar during the summer but has been out injured since September 21st after he was on the end of a challenge his manager described as “absolutely ridiculous” from Stoke’s Andy Wilkinson.

Hughes has masterminded something of a revolution at Craven Cottage since taking over and his team remain undefeated in the Premier League. He has instilled a new rigidness across the side, meaning they have drawn six of their seven games so far, which sees them sitting in tenth spot. The weekend Premier League betting suggests they can get something out of their game against Spurs.

Dembele has said he expects to learn and develop at Fulham as the Premier League is “more physical” than the game is in Holland, but he is expecting to improve as he gets used to things and be a key element in Hughes’ revolution on the Thames.

The forward said about his short time at the club so far: “It’s been perfect and the team also has a high quality of football.

“They are all players who have played in the Premier League for a long time so it’s normal to expect that they are high quality players.”

It has been claimed that Hughes is looking to Scandinavia to improve his Fulham team come the January transfer window as he looks to upset the football betting and take his side into Europe. Swedes Behrang Safari and Viktor Noring, a full back and goalkeeper respectively, are thought to be interesting the Welsh manager as he looks to build a squad capable of cementing their position in the Premier League top ten over the course of the season.?

Chelsea have had a fantastic start to the season and there is no doubt that they are very much the title favourites at the moment. They also have an impressive goal difference of 21 from the first 7 games. However with the news that Yossi Benayoun is set for a 6 month stint on the sidelines do Chelsea have enough in their squad to win the title again?

So far this season Chelsea have been without Frank Lampard, John Terry and Alex with Jose Bosingwa also still out. These men have all been consistent performers in Chelsea shirts and although they do have strength in some positions others, particularly central defence, looks weak especially as they didn’t sign a central defender to replace Ricardo Carvalho who moved to Real Madrid in the summer.

It is by no means panic stations for Chelsea at the moment but if they are to compete in both the Premiership and the Champions League this season then their needs to be some squad rotation involved if the players are to last the whole season.

The Chelsea squad is considerably weakened from last year with Joe Cole, Michael Ballack, Deco, Ricardo Carvalho and Juliano Belletti all having left the club and the only summer arrivals being Ramires and Benayoun. Even though all of the players above didn’t play week in week out for Chelsea they were always quality options that they had to bring on that they no longer do.

The hope is that Chelsea are able to bring through some of their younger players to fill the gaps, however there has been very little young talent coming into the Chelsea team over the last few seasons so it s going to be a big step up for the youngsters.

If Chelsea can keep the majority of their first team squad fit then they are still in pole position for the title but with Manchester City in particular not far behind. and with a much larger squad of first team players, Chelsea can not afford to get complacent or pick up too many injuries otherwise they may not be able to retain the title this season. 

Written by Colin Hill, a sports blogger who writes about euro 2012 shirts.

They say confidence is everything in football – never has that been truer than in the case of Wayne Rooney. A player who at one point last season was unstoppable, turned in another abject performance last night during England’s dismal 0-0 draw with Montenegro, leaving Sir Alex Ferguson with a major dilemma ahead of Saturday’s crucial Premier League match with West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford.

Rooney’s recent performances for England have been dreadful and his performances in a Man Utd shirt haven’t been much better. It represents a major decision for the United boss just what to do with his star player. Rooney clearly isn’t operating at full fitness and his mental state cannot be much better in the wake of recent press allegations regarding his personal life.

In an ideal world, I believe Ferguson would like to take Rooney out the splotlight for an extended period, allowing him to regain his fitness and passion for football. The problem he has though is that by the time Rooney comes back, United’s title bid could be all but over. Already five points behind Chelsea, United have no margin for error and finding the right combination up front in Rooney’s absence has proved problematic.

Dimitar Berbatov is a certain starter and has been in fine form this season but the reality is, goalscoring is not his game and while he will chip in, he cannot be expected to score the goals necessary for a title winning team. Javier Hernandez has shown glimpses of real talent and has scored some great goals, but he is still young and learning and for every good game he has played so far he has also played one bad one.

Similarly, Kiko Macheda is in need of a regular run of games to find the form and consistency required to play in a team like Manchester United, but can United risk giving him this time when they are already behind Chelsea?  A few weeks ago, it had looked like Michael Owen could be the man to solve the crisis, after he followed up a double at Scunthorpe with the equaliser at Bolton. There were even calls for him to be added to the England Euro 2012 qualifiying squad, but when handed his first start he was promptly hooked at half time.

All this points to the importance of Wayne Rooney to United and the likelihood that he will start against West Brom on Saturday. Whether or not he can recapture his form his open to debate and I would lean to the thinking that it could be some time before he does, but the facts are Manchester United will not win the Premiership title this season without Wayne Rooney, so Ferguson will just have to hope his man can rediscover his magic touch – and quickly!

Written by Colin Hill, a sports blogger who writes about new football kits.