English Premier League:There was a time when only a satirist would have portrayed a plucky little Chelsea battling the odds and putting up a fight for the Premier League against better-resourced sides.
SUNDAY Liverpool v Manchester Utd Anfield, 1.30, Sky Sports 1 Arsenal v Chelsea Emirates, 4.0. Sky Sports 1
Nonetheless, when the exaggeration is removed, a certain truth remains in that depiction of the Stamford Bridge club, who feature in one of the two matches involving the elite tomorrow when they go to the Emirates Stadium. Strength-in-depth looks as if it will be decisive in the Premier League and Chelsea may not be sufficiently equipped.
Roman Abramovich, one of the world's plutocrats, ought to realise the irony. Should the title go to the biggest and, more importantly, best-balanced squad, then Chelsea, despite his means, will fall short unless there are unexpected pyrotechnics in the January transfer market. Options do exist in some departments, but for a club with aspirations to bewitch the world and rake in global profits Chelsea are humdrum in attack whenever Didier Drogba, as is currently the case, cannot take the field.
Chelsea are being outgunned by the other members of the dominant quartet. They have scored 24 goals in 16 matches and six of those came with the visit of a peculiarly skittish Manchester City.
The only absorbing aspect to Tuesday's 0-0 draw with Valencia was the gruesome failure of, in sequence, Shevchenko, Pizarro and Salomon Kalou as Grant scrambled to identify a lone striker of impact.
At Arsenal, Arsène Wenger has never had much taste for bulking up the payroll. The rhythm and understanding that so typify his line-ups at their most streamlined may in fact depend on consistency of selection.
Still, there are no duplicates for Cesc Fàbregas or Alexander Hleb and, in their absence, the team has stopped winning on the domestic scene. Unless Wenger is fortunate with injuries, the limited range of alternatives may see him fall short of the title.
Rafael Benitez has been trying to address that sort of concern. Liverpool have been so understaffed that since the Spaniard's arrival in 2004 the side has won a mere four of its 20 Premier League meetings with the rest of the leading pack. There was an urgency about turning the team into something more than connoisseurs of the knockout tournaments.
Choice has definitely been extended, but the calibre of the various alternatives is debatable. Nothing demonstrated that more than the slowing of the rotation policy that has invited Fernando Torres to start the past five fixtures. It will be a test for Benitez to keep on winning without exhausting Torres.
Manchester United appreciate more than anyone that the distinction and extent of the resources is the key. They have not forgotten how weariness brought them down on one front last season, when they were too feeble in the Champions League semi-final to cope with an excellent Milan side that had nothing else on its mind.
With the purchase since then of Nani, Anderson, Owen Hargreaves and Carlos Tevez, Alex Ferguson would now have approaching 20 players of substance if everyone were available.
It is the measure of the squad that no one thinks to refer to the missing persons, though Gary Neville has been out since March and Paul Scholes will not be back until February. The disrupted season of Wayne Rooney barely rates a mention.
United have a squad built for the rigours ahead. To the club with a lot of fine players may come quite a few trophies.
- Guardian Service
