Mikel, Taiwo at war at Stanford Bridge
By MADUABUCHI KALU
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Mikel and Taiwo
Two Nigerian internationals, John Obi Mikel (The Catalyst) and Taye Taiwo (The Tornado) will confront each other this afternoon in an English Premier League (EPL) fixture at the Stanford Bridge. Taiwo’s Queen Park Rangers (QPR) will be visitor to Chelsea, which is still smarting from its UEFA Champions League semi-final victory over highly rated and favoured FC Barcelona last Tuesday. It is one match, which will go a long way in determining whether relegation-threatened QPR can still play in the EPL next season.
On paper and current form, bookmakers will close their eyes and give this match to Chelsea, but in football, there are upsets and when one considers that this match is very crucial to Taiwo and his teammates, who are battling to escape relegation by all means, then anything can happen.
The biggest mistake Chelsea will make today is to underrate QPR and be complacent in the face of the opposition. In fact, Chelsea should be very careful in the way it will approach the encounter because it is not always easy playing a relegation-threatened side like QPR. It was not too long ago that Taiwo and his teammates surprised many followers of the EPL when they smashed all predictions and handed Arsenal a defeat at the Emirates. In line with this, Chelsea has to be very careful in order to pick the needed points in this match, a feat that will further brighten its hope in its bid for a UEFA Champions League spot.
Meanwhile, Mikel has told his compatriot and Super Eagles teammate, Taiwo, to forget getting any point from today’s encounter, stating that his focus remains on ensuring that Chelsea rejoices at the end of the day. QPR may find today’s encounter difficult should Chelsea approach the match with the determination and conviction that saw the Blues through during their UEFA Champions League semi-final last Tuesday.
OPR will rely on Bobby Zamora, Alejandro Fourlin, Heldar Helguson, Joey Barton, DJ Campbel, Jamie Young, Shaun Derry, Akos Buzsaky, Tommy Smith, Taiwo, Adel Taarabt and goalkeeper Kenny to see if it could eke out at least a point from this game.
Meanwhile, captain, John Terry, would like to use today’s match to show remorse to Chelsea fans for his disappointing attitude during the UEFA Champions League match against FC Barcelona on Tuesday, which earned him a red. Other players who will throw their hats in the ring for Chelsea include Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, Mikel, Matta, Petr Cech, Ivanovic, Bosingwa, etc.
The input of the managers, however, will not count less, as QPR’s Mark Hughes and the newest discovery in EPL management, Chelsea’s Roberto Di Matteo, will throw everything into the encounter to ensure that victory swings to their respective sides after the 90-minute hostilities.
