Sit down, Fernando Torres! The lineups are out for the English Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Birmingham City, and Torres, along with Nicolas Anelka, is sitting. Carlo Ancelotti has opted for a 4-3-3 setup with Solomon Kalou and Florent Malouda on either side of Didier Drogba. Ramires sits as well, as John Obi Mikel comes in and Michael Essien presumably plays a more attacking role than usual.
Chelsea Vs. Birmingham: Lineups
For most of his time as the Birmingham City manager, Alex McLeish has been a 4-4-2 type of guy, but he’s opted to play an extra man in the midfield today, situating Alexander Hleb as an attacking midfielder behind a lone striker, Cameron Jerome.
Chelsea (4-3-3): Petr Cech; Ashley Cole, John Terry, David Luiz, Paulo Ferreira; John Obi Mikel, Frank Lampard, Michael Essien; Florent Malouda, Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou
Substitutes: Ross Turnbull, Branislav Ivanovic, Ryan Bertrand, Yuri Zhirkov,Yossi Benayoun, Nicolas Anelka, Fernando Torres.
Birmingham City (4-4-1-1): Ben Foster; Stuart Parnaby, Liam Ridgewell,Roger Johnson, Stephen Carr; Keith Fahey, Barry Ferguson, Craig Gardner, Sebastian Larsson; Alexander Hleb; Cameron Jerome.
Substitutes: Colin Doyle, Lee Bowyer, Kevin Phillips, David Bentley, Matt Derbyshire, Jean Beausejour, Curtis Davies.
See More:
