I Love Fernando Torres

After missing out on the 4-0 win against Tottenham last weekend, Fernando Torres could be back for the visit to Villa Park according to manager Jose Mourinho. The Spaniard was picked to start against Tottenham, but he was injured during the warm-up. His replacement, Samuel Eto’o, scored the opening goal in the match and also won a penalty. Mourinho said after that encounter that it was highly unlikely that Torres could be back very soon since muscular injuries usually take a long time to cure. However, Chelsea have been boosted by the news that the 29-year-old will now be available for selection against Aston Villa.

This will be very difficult trip for Chelsea and Mourinho since the Portuguese has never won at Villa Park even during his previous spell at the club. They go into the weekend top of the table with a seven-point lead over Liverpool, who have a trip to Old Trafford on Sunday. Torres may not have been in the best of form since his move from Liverpool, but the Spaniard remains as one of the top strikers are the club. Further, Mourinho is likely to go with Samuel Eto’o for the Galatasaray match. At 33 years of age, the former Barcelona superstar cannot play two matches in a week.

“Fernando is much, much better. Maybe I take him tomorrow. Maybe I don’t take him and I try everything for Tuesday. It was only a little thing, but when you feel that little thing before the game you don’t play. If you feel during the game, maybe the adrenaline and the temperature of your body maybe you go through it and you play,” said the Portuguese boss, who also reiterated that the table is not accurate since the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool are yet to play the same number of matches as Chelsea.

Chelsea striker Fernando Torres has said that he is very much looking forward to the Premier league encounter against Arsenal since it gives the club a great opportunity to go top of the table. Chelsea will be able to leapfrog Arsenal with a win over the gunners. Torres, who has scored against Arsenal in the past, says that Chelsea go to the match at the Emirates stadium with a view to get all three points. This is also the opinion of midfielder Juan Mata, who continues to be on the fringes of the Chelsea first team this season.

Torres has failed to score on a regular basis this campaign, but he has worked extremely hard for the club. He is expected to start ahead of the likes of Samuel Eto’o and Demba Ba. This is not the first time Chelsea will be making the trip to the Emirates stadium. They managed a convincing 2-0 win over the gunners win the two clubs met earlier in the season. It was in the League Cup – a competition in which Wenger usually fields inexperienced players. Arsenal are at their full strength after the return of players like Podolski and Walcott from injury.

A win will be morale boosting former Chelsea team, who will face Liverpool at home just before New Year’s Day.

“We know how important it is for us. It’s a chance to overtake them in the table and we know how important that is for the fans. We’re playing Arsenal, and it’s a huge game for both sets of fans. We’ve beaten them once this season in the Capital One Cup at the Emirates, so we know what we need to do to win there. We just have to ensure we prepare for the game the best we can, and I’m sure we can go and do it,” said Torres.