Premier League transfer window – who needs whom?

A club-by-club guide to the ins and outs of the transfer window so far

Arsenal

Laurent Koscielny and Marouane Chamakh have arrived to bolster defence and attack. Arsène Wenger still needs a goalkeeper as he remains unconvinced by the current No1, Manuel Almunia. Mark Schwarzer is favourite but Manchester City’s Shay Given may interest the manager, who has up to £15m to spend

Who they have signed

Laurent Koscielny (Lorient, £9.7m), Marouane Chamakh (Bordeaux, free)

Who they still want

Mark Schwarzer (Fulham), Shay Given (Manchester City)

Aston Villa

It is difficult to see much activity at Villa Park unless a permanent manager is appointed before the window closes. With Stephen Ireland arriving as part of the James Milner deal and several promising youngsters emerging, Villa’s squad looks reasonably strong, although a prolific goalscorer would be a welcome addition

Who they have signed

Stephen Ireland (Manchester City, part-exchange)

Who they still want

No targets at present

Birmingham City

Alex McLeish has endured plenty of frustration since making a couple of early signings. The arrival of Matt Derbyshire has increased McLeish’s attacking options but the Birmingham manager still feels his squad lacks depth and quality. A left-winger, such as Charles N’Zogbia, remains high on his list

Who they have signed

Ben Foster (Man Utd, £6m), Nikola Zigic (Valencia, £6m), Enric Valles (NAC Breda, free), Matt Derbyshire (Olympiakos, loan)

Who they still want

Charles N’Zogbia (Wigan)

Blackburn Rovers

A prospective new owner is talking up a £100m war chest for Sam Allardyce and, alarmingly, the prospect of bringing David Beckham to Ewood Park. Back in the real world, Allardyce is continuing his exhaustive search for an inexpensive striker to rectify last season’s glaring weakness

Who they have signed

Hugo Fernández (Unión Deportiva Cornellà, nominal), Mame Biram Diouf (Man Utd, loan)

Who they still want

Ivelin Popov (Litex Lovech), Benjani Mwaruwari (free agent)

Blackpool

A chaotic summer has now seen Blackpool’s chairman, Karl Oyston, step down, leaving Ian Holloway and his players with little inkling of what the future holds. A £10,000 a week wage ceiling makes recruitment tricky

Who they have signed

Craig Cathcart (Man Utd, £500k), Chris Basham (Bolton, £500k), Marlon Harewood (free agent), Elliot Grandin (CSKA Sofia, undisc), Ludovic Sylvestre (Mlada Boleslav, undisc), Malaury Martin (Monaco, free)

Who they still want

Anyone Holloway can get his hands on

Bolton Wanderers

Owen Coyle hopes mainly to trim his squad, with Danny Shittu and Jlloyd Samuel among those available, but he will explore the loan market towards the end of the window. The priority is a passer in midfield after recruiting Jack Wilshere on loan from Arsenal last season

Who they have signed

Marcos Alonso (Real Madrid, £1.6m), Tom Eaves (Oldham, £350,000), Robbie Blake (Burnley, free), Ivan Klasnic (Nantes, free), Martin Petrov (Man City, free)

Who they still want

Tom Cleverley (Man Utd)

Chelsea

Carlo Ancelotti began the summer wanting to bolster his midfield and attack, and following Ricardo Carvalho’s departure for Real Madrid he now appears light in central defence, although he says he will not be strengthening that area. If he can add the Brazil forward Neymar he will be content

Who they have signed

Ramires (Benfica £16.3m), Yossi Benayoun (Liverpool, £5m), Matej Delac (Zapresic, £2.7m), Tomas Kalac (Sigma, undisc)

Who they still want

Neymar (Santos)

Everton

Ideally, David Moyes would love to add a top goalscorer and a quick right-midfielder to his squad. The reality is that he has no money to spend unless he sells Yakubu Ayegbeni, Joseph Yobo and, more reluctantly, Steven Pienaar. The approach to Craig Bellamy shows Moyes has not given up hope of a late solution

Who they have signed

Magaye Gueye (Strasbourg, £900k), João Silva (Aves, £500k), Jermaine Beckford (Leeds, free), Jan Mucha (Legia Warsaw, free)

Who they still want

Marat Izmailov (Sporting Lisbon)

Fulham

Mark Hughes’s squad is light on fresh faces and, if Mark Schwarzer moves to Arsenal, he will need a goalkeeper. A central defender is also a requirement due to Philippe Senderos’s six-month layoff with an achilles injury. Hughes’s budget extends to around £12m

Who they have signed

Moussa Dembélé (AZ Alkmaar, £5m), Jonathan Greening (West Brom, free), Philippe Senderos (Arsenal, free)

Who they still want

Shay Given (Man City), Paul Robinson (Blackburn), Curtis Davies (Aston Villa)

Liverpool

Roy Hodgson has confirmed he will not be seeking marquee names if a takeover does materialise very soon. “We are looking to add one or two players,” he said this week. Priorities are a striker and a left-back are the priorities

Who they have signed

Christian Poulsen (Juventus, £5m), Brad Jones (Middlesbrough, £2.3m), Danny Wilson (Rangers, £2m), Jonjo Shelvey (Charlton £1.7m), Joe Cole (Chelsea, free), Milan Jovanovic (Standard Liège, free)

Who they still want

Paul Konchesky (Fulham), Nacho Monreal (Osasuna), Ola Toivonen (PSV Eindhoven)

Manchester City

Roberto Mancini has said City’s summer spending – six players at a total cost of £126m – is now finished and there is no reason to disbelieve him but the club’s financial position means they will always be in the market if a top player suddenly becomes available. Saturday’s draw at Tottenham demonstrated there are still areas of the team that need improvement, particularly in defence but also the need for a target man in attack Who they have signed

David Silva (Valencia, £26m), James Milner (Aston Villa, £26m), Yaya Touré (Barcelona, £24.5m), Mario Balotelli (Inter, £22.5m), Aleksandar Kolarov (Lazio, £16.5m), Jérôme Boateng (Hamburg, £10.5m)

Who they still want

David Luiz (Benfica) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Barcelona) are possible targets

Manchester United

Sir Alex Ferguson has spent around £25m this summer and it is difficult to imagine the Glazers releasing any more transfer funds given the club’s financial position. United are the best in the business, though, when it comes to pulling off under-the-radar deals, so it cannot be completely ruled out. Mesut Ozil was a genuine target until it became clear he favoured Real Madrid

Who they have signed

Chris Smalling (Fulham, £10m), Bébé (Vitória, £7.4m), Javier Hernández (Chivas, £6m)

Who they still want

Raúl Meireles (Porto) is a possible target

Newcastle United

Chris Hughton has been constrained by the general policy directive – breached in Sol Campbell’s case – to sign promising under-25s as cheaply as possible on salaries lower than £25,000 a week. Lack of cover in defence and a shortage of creativity needs addressing

Who they have signed

James Perch (Nottm Forest, £1.4m), Sol Campbell (free agent), Dan Gosling (Everton, free)

Who they still want

Hatem Ben Arfa (Marseille), Victor Anichebe (Everton), cover at left-back

Stoke City

Tony Pulis was linked with a bid for the Wigan Athletic striker Hugo Rodallega, but news that Kenwyne Jones’s injury is as not as serious as first feared means that the deal is unlikely. Pulis’s main task for the remainder of the transfer window is to offload several fringe players who are contributing little beyond adding to the wage bill

Who they have signed

Kenwyne Jones (Sunderland, £8m), Florent Cuvelier (Portsmouth, undisc)

Who they still want

Nobody

Sunderland

Recruiting a physically imposing target man to replace Kenwyne Jones is Steve Bruce’s priority, although Charles N’Zogbia is also very much wanted on Wearside

Who they have signed

Marcos Angeleri (Estudiantes, £2m), Simon Mignolet (Sint Truidense, £2m), Titus Bramble (Wigan, £1m), Cristian Riveros (Toluca, free), Nedum Onuoha (Man City, loan), Danny Welbeck (Man Utd, loan)

Who they still want

Charles N’Zogbia (Wigan), Asamoah Gyan (Rennes), Roque Santa Cruz (Man City)

West Bromwich Albion

The flaws in Roberto Di Matteo’s squad were exposed in the 6-0 defeat at Chelsea. The manager is keen to bring in a defender, central midfielder, winger and centre-forward

Who they have signed

Nicky Shorey (Aston Villa, £1.5m), Boaz Myhill (Hull, £1.5m), Gabriel Tamas (Auxerre, £800k), Pablo Ibáñez (Atletico Madrid, free)

Who they still want

Marc Wilson (Portsmouth), Cheick Tioté (FC Twente), Peter Odemwingie (Lokomotiv Moscow)

Tottenham Hotspur

Harry Redknapp is ready to ship out Robbie Keane and Jermaine Jenas to accommodate new personnel. With Ledley King a perennial injury concern and Jonathan Woodgate’s season in doubt, he would like to sign a central defender. He was also keen on Craig Bellamy, suggesting he wants a forward

Who they have signed

Sandro (Internacional, £6m)

Who they still want

William Gallas (free agent), Brede Hangeland (Fulham), Loïc Rémy (Nice), Scott Parker (West Ham)

West Ham United

Avram Grant has bought in bulk but is still in the market for a right-back and is keen to sign a 15-goal-a-season man. Kieron Dyer made yet another comeback in the reserves recently so may give the squad a welcome boost

Who they have signed

Pablo Barrera (Pumas UNAM, £4m), Winston Reid (Midtjylland, £3m), Frédéric Piquionne (Lyon, £1m), Thomas Hitzlsperger (Lazio, free), Tal Ben Haim (Portsmouth, loan)

Who they still want

Nigel Reo-Coker (Aston Villa), Roque Santa Cruz (Manchester City)

Wigan Athletic

The loss of Titus Bramble has destabilised the defence and manager Roberto Martínez desperately needs to replace him. Keeping the likes of Hugo Rodallega and Charles N’Zogbia is also crucial

Who they have signed

Mauro Boselli (Estudiantes, £6.5m), Ronnie Stam (FC Twente, £3m), James McArthur (Hamilton, £500k), Antolín Alcaraz (Brugge, free), Ali al-Habsi (Bolton, loan)

Who they still want

Franco Di Santo (Chelsea, loan), Steven Caldwell (free agent)

Transfer windowArsenalAston VillaBirmingham CityBlackburn RoversBlackpoolBolton WanderersChelseaEvertonFulhamLiverpoolManchester CityManchester UnitedNewcastle UnitedStoke CitySunderlandTottenham HotspurWest BromWest Ham UnitedWigan AthleticWolverhampton Wanderersguardian.co.uk

Premier League countdown: Where to see your team in pre-season

Pre-season fixtures for the Premier League teams ahead of the 2010-11 season

Arsenal

17 July v Barnet (A) 3pm

21 July v Sturm Graz (A) 6pm

27 July v SC Neusiedl 1919 (A) 6pm

31 July v Milan (H, Emirates Cup) 4.20pm

1 August v Celtic (H, Emirates Cup) 4.20pm

7 August v Legia Warsaw (A) 3pm

Aston Villa

24 July v Bohemians (A) 3pm

27 July v Walsall (A) 7.45pm

31 July v Feyenoord (A) 9.15pm

1 August v Benfica (A) 9.15pm

6 August v Valencia (H) 7.45pm

Birmingham City

18 July v Hong Kong League Selection Team (A) 3pm

21 July v Beijing Guoan FC (A) 7.30pm

24 July v Liaoning Hongyun Football Club (A) 8pm

31 July v Derby County (A) 3pm

3 August v MK Dons (A) 7.30pm

7 August v Real Mallorca (H) 3pm

Blackburn Rovers

10 July v Sturm Graz (A) 5pm

17 July v Fleetwood Town (A) 3pm

20 July v Preston North End (A) 7.45pm

21 July v Huddersfield Town (A) 7.45pm

25 July v Rangers (N, Sydney Festival of Football) 3pm

28 July v AEK Aens (N, Sydney Festival of Football) 6pm

31 July v Sydney FC (A, Sydney Festival of Football) 7.15pm

7 August v Hearts (A) 3pm

Blackpool

16 July v Tiverton Town (A) 7.30pm

20 July v Accrington Stanley (A) 7.30pm

22 July v Kilmarnock (A) 8pm

27 July v Crewe Alexandra (A) 7.30pm

31 July v Bristol City (A) 3pm

Bolton Wanderers

14 July v Charlotte Eagles (A) TBC

17 July v Charleon Battery (A) TBC

17 July v Bamber Bridge (A) 3pm

21 July v Toronto FC (A) TBC

23 July v Chorley (A) 7.30pm

24 July v Rochdale (A) 3pm

27 July v Curzon Ashton (A) 7.45pm

28 July v Morecambe (A) 7.45pm

30 July v Fleetwood Town (A) 7.45pm

31 July v Falkirk (A) 3pm

2 August v Johnstone (A) 7.45pm

4 August v AFC Fylde (A) 7.45pm

6 August v Osasuna (H) TBC

7 August v Barrow (A) 3pm

Chelsea

17 July v Crystal Palace (A) 3pm

23 July v Ajax (A) 8pm

1 August v Eintracht Frankfurt (A) 3pm

4 August v Hamburg (A) 8pm

Everton

10 July v Sydney FC (A) 7.30pm

14 July v Melbourne Heart (A) 7.30pm

17 July v Brisbane Roar (A) 7.30pm

24 July v Preston North End (A) 3pm

31 July v Norwich City (A) 3pm

4 August v Everton Chile (H) 8pm

7 August v Wolfsburg (A) 4pm

Fulham

14 July v Brentford (A) 8pm

17 July v Bournemouth (A) 3pm

31 July v Portsmouth (A) 3pm

Liverpool

17 July v Al Hilal (A) 6pm

21 July v Grasshopper (A) 6.30pm

24 July v Kaiserslautern (A) TBC

1 August v Borussia Mönchengladbach (A) 1.30pm

Manchester City

23rd July v Sporting Lisbon (A, New York Football Challenge) 8pm

25 July v New York Red Bulls (A, New York Football Challenge) 3pm

28 July v Club America (A) 8pm

31 July v Internazionale (A) 8pm

4 August v Borussia Dortmund (A) 8pm

Manchester United

16 July v Celtic (N) TBC

21 July v Philadelphia Union (A) 7.30pm

25 July v Kansas City Wizards (A) 5pm

28 July v MLS All-Stars (N) 6pm

4 August v League of Ireland XI (N) TBC

Newcastle United

17 July v Carlisle United (A) TBC

24 July v Norwich City (A) 3pm

31 July v PSV Eindhoven (H) TBC

7 August v Rangers (A) TBC

Stoke City

22 July v Nantwich Town (A) 7pm

22 July v Notts County (A) 7.45pm

24 July v Newcastle Town (A) 2.30pm

27 July v Derby County (A) 7.45pm

31 July v Burnley (H) 3pm

3 August v Bristol Rovers (A) 7.45pm

6 August v Wrexham (A) 7.45pm

Sunderland

17 July v Darlington (A) 3pm

Tottenham Hotspur

10 July v Bournemouth (A) 3pm

17 July v San Jose Earquakes (A) TBC

29 July v Villarreal (H) 8pm

3 August v Benfica (A) 7.45pm

7 August v Fiorentina (H) 3pm

West Bromwich Albion

20 July v Crewe Alexandra (A) 7.30pm

24 July v Bristol Rovers (A) 3pm

West Ham United

24 July v Burton Albion (A) 3pm

Wigan Athletic

20 July v Oldham (A) 7.45pm

4 August v Real Zaragoza (H) 7.45pm

8 August v Dundee United (A) 3pm

Wolverhampton Wanderers

17 July v Bohemians (A) 3pm

20 July v Walsall (A) 7.45pm

24 July v Charleroi (A) TBC

27 July v Reading (A) 8pm

30 July v Cheltenham Town (A) 7.45pm

31 July v Leeds United (A) 3pm

3 August v Hearts (A) 7pm

7 August v Athletic Bilbao (H) 3pm

Premier LeagueArsenalAston VillaBirmingham CityBlackburn RoversBlackpoolBolton WanderersChelseaEvertonFulhamLiverpoolManchester CityManchester UnitedNewcastle UnitedStoke CitySunderlandTottenham HotspurWest BromWest Ham UnitedWigan AthleticWolverhampton Wanderersguardian.co.uk

Premier League: Chelsea v Blackburn Rovers – live!

Press the auto-refresh button for the latest action. Click here for the latest scores around Europe. And email your thoughts to rob.smyth@guardian.co.uk

Half-time emails

“Here in America, ‘4D2′ is the answer to the question, ‘What’s six by seven?’” – Damian Koblintz.

“Building on David Wall’s excellent extension of my addition of letters to the formation game can I suggest: GS3DHP. For Goalkeeper, Sweeper, 3 Defenders, a midfield diamond and then a player in the “hole” behind a poacher? I have avoided David’s use of European terms because they unsettled me after his earlier wish for a return to Brylcreem. It’s a dull game isn’t it?” – Mark Crack.

“We have to be getting to the point where the balls are swerving too much. It’s kind of like making the pockets bigger in snooker, since you don’t necessarily have to work yourself into a good position to score a goal. I remember goalkeepers in the 2006 World Cup complaining about it, but not much since. Eventually they’ll be playing with – dare I say it? – beach balls out there” – Patrick McGovern.

“This new numbers/letters notation opens up a world of ideas. Football role-playing games. ‘You’re through on goal, roll your 11-sided dice to shoot. Oh no a 3S, that’s a 3 powered striker or a Zamora. You shank it out for a throw-in’” – Niall Mullen

“Didn’t your beloved mid-80s Denmark team play a 3(+1), 4(+1), 2(+1) -2 with the bracketed one Morten Olsen, the parentheses showing that he could appear anywhere at any time, and the -2 reminding us to subtract two from the formation at all times to keep us within that fiddly rule about 11 players in a team? Stop me if I’m getting a bit too Open University (wouldn’t that be a natural home for Jonathan Wilson?)”

Half time: Chelsea 1-0 Blackburn A hopelessly one-sided half comes to an end. I’ll see you in 10 minutes.

45 min+2 A brilliant save from Paul Robinson denies John Terry. A free-kick from the right went all the way over to the far side and was headed square by Carvalho, 15 yards out. It bounced up to John Terry, who lashed towards the bottom-left corner, but Robinson plunged to his right to make an extremely good stop.

45 min+1 Pedersen is correctly booked for a cynical pull on Ivanovic.

45 min I have just about summoned the will to tell you that there will be two minutes of added time.

43 min You could hear a rat piss on cotton at Stamford Bridge, were there any cotton. It’s drifting towards half-time.

41 min Anelka hits the side netting from the left side of the box.

40 min “I’m not sure us Northerners rate Joe Cole as highly as you Southern types,” says Gary Naylor. “His international goal tally isn’t good for a potential point of the diamond and I’d suggest he was less the Italian dove that is Andrea Pirlo and more the cockney sparrer that was Dennis Wise. Joe Cole is one of a few England players (eg any of the goalkeepers, Peter Crouch) that I can’t picture in my mind throwing the World Cup to each other on a lap of honour as Jonathan Pearce sobs emotional tears into the mic.”

You might be right. With Cole, I just don’t know. That he is one of England’s best pure footballers – alongside Scholes, Rooney, Dunn and a few others – is, I think, not in dispute. Whether he can bring that talent to bear on really, really big games? No idea.

39 min “I think there’s great potential for this new numeral/letter notation,” says David Wall. “If we see a return to use of the sweeper you can symbolise as L342 (for libero), while (for MBMs on international games in particular, where a team uses a genuine free attacker in the hole) you can have 43F2 (for fantastista).”

37 min A vicious, swooshing strike from Drogba, at least 35 yards out, is punched over his own bar by the diving Robinson. He actually did well because the ball was moving all over the place.

36 min Dire goalkeeping from Petr Cech, who comes to punch Pedersen’s long throw and misses it completely. Chelsea got away with it, but that was woeful.

35 min Lizz Poulter has a point about our diamond: “I think 4-D-2 is confusing – it looks like 4-3-1-2 (a line and a curve) to me. And the ‘D’ is already part of the pitch that’s, you’ve guessed it, D-shaped, not diamond-shaped.”

Bah!

34 min Thanks to whoever pointed out that the score was missing. The relevant techy hides have been whipped, and it should be fixed now.

33 min Paul Robinson makes a brilliant save to deny Anelka. Chelsea moved the ball beautifully across the 18-yard line through Joe Cole and then Lampard, who slipped Anelka through on goal in the inside-right position. He was 10 yards out, but Robinson charged from his line to block Anelka’s lofted shot. That was lovely football from Chelsea.

32 min A fine header from Lampard goes a fraction wide. Belletti smashed a bouncing ball into the box from a narrow position on the right, and Lampard, 12 yards out, leapt almost backwards to steer his header away from Robinson and just wide of the near post.

31 min “4D2 smacks or RD2 and echos of Star Wars – or should it be now talked of as the Diamond Wars?” says Adi Proud. “Cutting edge stuff is it not? My Granddad used to say a ‘Double Diamond worked wonders’ but that’s after he had a bottle or two….” Bleach does wonders to a man.

30 min Essien receives a crisp square pass from the lovely Ballack and thrashes not far over the bar from 30 yards. Chelsea have had 65 per cent of the possession so far; I’m surprised the figure is so low.

29 min I can’t get my oversized head round how tragic this discussion is.

28 min “Re: 24 minutes,” says Aidan Gibson. “Do it like Football Manager: DM Essien CM Ballack Lampard AM Cole or, seeing as what today is, you can just call it Phil Brown Midfield.”

Well I like that last bit, but with a standard team list I don’t reckon there’s room for AMs and DMs and strap-ons and all that stuff. I reckon this is the best offer so far.

Chelsea (4-D-2) Cech; Belletti, Carvalho, Terry, Ivanovic; Essien; Ballack, Lampard; Joe Cole; Anelka, Drogba.
Subs: Hilario, Malouda, Paulo Ferreira, Deco, Kalou, Sturridge, Bruma.

27 min Blackburn go on a rare counter attack. Jason Roberts, the lone striker, does very well to hold the ball for approximately four decades while the support arrives from midfield. He eventually lays it off nicely to Pedersen, who drills dismally wide from 20 yards.

26 min This is a desperate mismatch. Blackburn have nothing to offer. It’s not that fault, just the way it is these days. Remember when the team that finished second could lose 15 games?

25 min “What about 4-Evra4gameban-2?” offers Alex Netherton. Only four? He deserves at least six for breathing today.

24 min “Re: 12 mins,” says David Wall. “I’m sure people will quickly adapt to mixtures of letters and numerals. There’s a nice nostalgic element to it, evoking old school talk of WM formations. If we’re lucky it might lead to a return to the days of moustached, brylcreamed, and (properly) bearded footballers too.”

I forgot all about WM, as I was only a kid then. Yeah, you’ve charmed me, let’s go with 4-D-2. That’s that settled, but then how do you list the midfielders? It is the man at the base, then a semi-colon, then the two central ones and a semi-colon, then the man at the top of the diamond?

23 min Drogba missed a decent chance. Lampard’s outswinging corner from the right cleared a posse of bodies on the penalty box. It came to Drogba, who shifted it to his left away from that posse and then spanked it wide of the near post with his left foot.

21 min “Maybe it should read as follows: Chelsea (advanced formation calculator required)” says Anthony O’Connell.

GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Blackburn (Givet own goal 20) What Gael Givet giveth to his team, he taketh away with that own goal. It was a devilishly difficult ball to deal with, played in low from the left by Anelka, and with Drogba waiting behind him to score Givet saved him the bother by sliding it past Robinson from six yards.

19 min Joe Cole plays a lovely one-two with Lampard in the inside-left position, but then can’t quite get enough on his stabbed low cross with the outside of the right foot and it’s claimed by Robinson. He looks busy, though.

18 min “The chairman makes me laugh though, because, you know, it’s his interfering, it’s his timing,” says Jimmy McManners. “Going on about he wants some wins – it’s Phil Brown day! You know. Ooh, what’s more important, you ‘chairman’, with your wins, or my tan? Ooh I don’t know. Ooh what would Jimmy Bullard say? I think we know – imagine him going out of the door on Phil Brown Day and I’m going ‘Where you going, you haven’t done the washing up. You haven’t put the rubbish out.’ ‘Do it yourself I’ve gotta save Hull from relegation!’.”

16 min “4-Phil Brown-2″ says Niall Mullen. “Next!”

15 min A gorgeous back flick from Cole, his first positive contribution, puts Anelka through on goal but he was a fraction offside.

14 min Big Evil has been thinking outside the box. “You know, I’d really like to see Joe Cole at the base of that diamond. His game is more complete after his time with Jose Mourinho and he’s got a work ethic to make it work there. I doubt that he’s the solution at the tip of the diamond. He isn’t fast or direct enough to be a top, Robben-style winger, and he doesn’t have the ruthlessness to match Lampard’s attacking productivity. Of course Ballack, Deco and Essien have all been eyed for the role, and Joe isn’t an obvious candidate there but neither was Pirlo so many years ago.”

Not for me. I think he has the discipline, the selflessness and the conscience to be a deep-lying midfielder, but probably not quite the awareness. I might be wrong, though; usually am.

13 min Lampard curls a free-kick over from 25 yards. Unusual to see him not engage the keeper, or at least get a deflection off the wall.

12 min “4-D-2″ offers Mark Crack. Not bad, but it will take society a long time to accept anything that doesn’t have only numbers in it. Maybe it’ll become a generational thing. The old school will put everything as 4-4-2/4-5-1; my generation will put it as 4-1-2-1-2 or, at a push, 4-D-2; and the Twitter generation will put is as LOL!!!!!!

11 min A fine effort from Lampard drifts just wide. Ballack on the left wing played the ball back to him, 25 yards out and in too much space. Lampard took a touch and then wobbled a fabulous strike towards the top, far corner. It beat Robinson but went just wide.

9 min “How about 4 (diamond symbol*) 2?” asks Jimmy McManners. It’s concise, it tells you all you need to know. But it just doesn’t look right…”

We need Jonathan Wilson’s take on this. Come on Wilson, switch that Yugoslavian League 1987-88 DVD off and join the Big Debate.

* We can’t insert the actual diamond symbol in our publishing tools, for reasons far too boring to explain, but I’m sure you can picture it.

8 min “As I recall, the last time someone sneaked into your bedroom to criticise your lovemaking technique, the quote was, ‘You’re too selfish’,” says Mac Millings. “But it wasn’t your fault. You were on your own, after all.”

7 min The bus has been parked and the pattern for the game set. I don’t blame Blackburn for playing 9-0-1 – far from it – but I reckon there are only so many of these inevitable home victories you can endure before the last bit of your soul disappears.

5 min The increasingly error-prone Carvalho faffs around a bit and is robbed by Pedersen, but he recovers to win the ball on the edge of his own area just as Pedersen was attempting to shift it onto his left foot for the shot.

3 min “Surely we should just call it a 4-4-2?” says Gregg Bocketti. “Essien is a midfielder, as is Cole. It’s just a narrow 4-4-2, with points.”

Nah, because there’s maybe 30 yards between Essien and Cole. If we have 4-2-3-1 we can’t call a diamond 4-4-2. This is the best discussion I have ever had.

2 min “When did you last win a game Phil?” says Matthew Towers, continuing Phil Brown Day. “”I don’t look on it as when. I look on it as who, and why.”

1 min Joe Cole misses a sitter after 29 seconds. An absolute sitter. Lampard clipped a gentle ball in from the left side of the box and Cole, clearly onside because of Blackburn’s staggered defence, headed wide of the near post from seven yards. What a start to his ascent to greatness.

1 min Blackburn are assuming the position in white shirts and red shorts. Chelsea kick off from right to left.

“Pedantic question,” says Mark Crack. “Which of the four points of the midfield diamond is Joe Cole playing at?”

Yes, very good. I’ll be sure to reciprocate by sneaking into your bedroom tonight to point out the myriad flaws in your lovemaking technique.

An email. A whole one “Was a bit confused looking at the Chelsea line up; you know, 4-1-2-1-2,” says Anthony O’Connell. “Thought it was a mistake then I remembered diamond. So it should read 4-diamond-2 just to avoid confusion for idiots like me.”

It’s an interesting question, this. No, really. Any formation with more than four lines looks ludicrously pretentious, but that’s just the kind of guy I am how else do you list a diamond? 4-diamond-2 isn’t the most elegant way of putting it.

Seven reasons why Chelsea will win today They had an inexplicably iffy home record last year – only 16 wins from 28 in all competitions – but this year they have won all seven, conceding only one goal in the process. Oh and Blackburn have lost the last eight away from home. Can we all go home now please?

Team news Joe Cole has been in some interesting positions in his time, but this is the one he really wants: at the point of a midfield diamond. It feels like he’s waited his entire career for this moment. Even though he’s 27, I’m still not sure we know exactly how good Joe Cole is, because he has been squeezed into other positions all his life. Who knows, in five years’ time we might look back on this game as the start of Joe Cole’s ascent to greatness. That’d be nice, because he seems like a thoroughly decent guy and he is blessed with charming ability.

Anyway, enough of that hopeful guff. Here’s the team news from our news wires:

England midfielder Joe Cole started his first league game since January but left-back Ashley Cole was sidelined with a knee injury as Chelsea looked to return to the top of the Barclays Premier League.

Branislav Ivanovic moved to left-back with Juliano Belletti remaining at right-back while Ricardo Carvalho returned to partner John Terry after being rested for the midweek Champions League win over Atletico Madrid.

Salomon Kalou, despite his two goals in midweek, was on the bench with Didier Drogba returning to the attack in his place.

Striker Franco Di Santo, on loan at Blackburn, was ineligible against his parent club while in-form David Dunn was also missing with flu with El-Hadji Diouf and Jason Roberts spearheading the attack.

Brett Emerton was recalled on the right while defensive pair Christopher Samba and Pascal Chimbonda were ruled out because of flu and a calf strain respectively and were replaced by Gael Givet and Martin Olsson.

Chelsea (4-D-2) Cech; Belletti, Carvalho, Terry, Ivanovic; Essien; Ballack, Lampard; Joe Cole; Anelka, Drogba.
Subs: Hilario, Malouda, Paulo Ferreira, Deco, Kalou, Sturridge, Bruma.

Blackburn (4-1-4-1) Robinson; Jacobsen, Olsson, Nelsen, Givet; Nzonzi; Diouf, Emerton, Andrews, Pedersen; Roberts.
Subs: Brown, McCarthy, Reid, Kalinic, Hoilett, Salgado, Jones.

Referee Alan Wiley (Staffordshire)

Preamble? Preamble-crunch more like! Let’s proceed straight to the intravenous injection of hard team news.

Premier LeagueChelseaWolverhampton WanderersBlackburn RoversMinute-by-minute reportRob Smythguardian.co.uk