Chelsea - safe in their castle, look to get back on track.

It's amazing what effect a humble little beach ball can have on proceedings. The sheer insanity of a goal coming courtesy of a deflection via the key component of Liverpool FC's £10 beach set seemed to send the nation into a tizz. The nature of the goal served to exasperate the problems afoot for Rafa Benitez and his men, it also tapered the praise Sunderland should have got for what was otherwise a thoroughly deserved victory, and a few hundred miles south, sneaking quietly out of Villa Park were a Chelsea team smarting from their second defeat in three Premier League outings.

Normally, in news terms, a title challenging side losing two out of three games ranks somewhere between a Royal death and Jordan's latest toyboy. However, thanks to 'beachball-gate' the Blues tucked themselves nicely into the middle of the footballing supplements, happy to allow their Merseyside rivals to wear the punches. Whilst their own failings may he been masked from wider public scrutiny, such defeats and dropped points will do nothing for Chelsea's inner confidence and collectiveness. Now with two losses in nine games, had in not been for injury time winners against Hull and Stoke, Carlo Ancelotti could be feeling the same sort of heat as Benitez.

Having won all four home games this season, scoring ten goals and conceding just one, the visit of Blackburn Rovers this weekend presents an immediately winnable opportunity for the Londoners to regain course. The recent defeats to Wigan and Aston Villa have not proved as critical as they should have been, with their nearest competitors also shedding unnecessary points. Question marks still remain over the lack of width the diamond formation provides, and how Chelsea deal with set-pieces. Both aspects will be tested by a Rovers side who will look to throttle the midfield, and test Chelsea's vulnerability to the aerial ball whenever possible.

Ancelotti welcomes back Michael Ballack to midfield, with Branislav Ivanovic set to deputise for the injured Jose Bosingwa. Didier Drogba comes back following European suspension; Joe Cole, Yuri Zhirkov and Jon Obi Mikel are striving for match-fitness and will have to settle for places on the bench.

1 Cech

2 Ivanovic – 6 Carvalho – 26 Terry – 3 A. Cole

5 Essien

13 Ballack – 20 Deco – 8 Lampard

11 Drogba – 39 Anelka

Sam Allardyce is without derby day hero Franco Di Santo who is unavailable against his parent club, Jason Roberts should deputise with the rest of the side staying the same from that which beat neighbours Burnley last week. Rovers have yet to pick up a point on their travels this season, and were thumped 6-2 last time on the road to Arsenal. David Dunn who played off Di Santo in a forward role against Burnley is likely to shuffle back into a more orthodox midfield role to help stifle Chelsea's possession.

1 Robinson

2 Jacobsen –4 Samba –6 Nelsen –39 Chimbonda

18 Diouf – 15 Nzonzi – 17 Andrews – 12 Pedersen

8 Dunn

9 Roberts

Nothing short of three points will do for Chelsea, who will hope to exorcise some of their demons dealing with balls into the box - which will surely come aplenty from a Sam Allardyce production. Blackburn, sat in twelfth place appear some way off challenging the likes of Villa, Sunderland and Everton for a Europa League place, and are nowhere near as bad as Portsmouth, Hull and the rest of the relegation fodder to get sucked into that mire. A season of mid-table mediocrity beckons, this is a game they need to get out of the way, offer them a point at Stamford Bridge and they'll rip your hand off. Chelsea should be good enough to take all three though.