Welcome to Mother Russia. I’ve never been.
But I used to know a Russian bloke, he ran a traditional English tea room in Essex, with his wife. She used to work in the duty free in Moscow, which is how they met. Funnily enough, his name was Andre.
I asked him what he did in Russia. With a mouth half full of copper fillings he smiled deathly smile. “I am a driver.” He starts giggling. So I ask him what he drove. “Car, motorbike, any truck, size no problems, I can deliver anything.” His giggle has turned to a grim gurgle. So ask him what he delivered. Suddenly Andre’s far more earnest as if realising this is his CV we’re discussing. “Oh no problems. Electrical goods. Clothing. Sometimes just some papers or people.”
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Squad: Lloris, Friedel, Walker, Naughton, Fryers, Chiriches, Archer, Dawson, Kaboul, Sandro, Dembele, Sigurdsson, Holtby, Lamela, Eriksen, Townsend, Chadli, Soldado, Kane, Defoe.
Vertonghen, Paulinho, Danny Rose, Etienne Capoue, Aaron Lennon, Emmanuel Adebayor I’m told didn’t get on the plane. Ade is “ill.”
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The plan tonight has to be to a] win and b] give the better players a run round without knackering them for West Ham at the weekend. Whilst Anzhi have “repositioned their brand” recently, this match is by no means a foregone conclusion. Don’t expect to see us field too many players you’ve never seen before.
The boss wants to win this and, I expect in an ideal scenario, if we can score and look comfortable enough, then he’ll start making a few subs.
Prices: we’re 4/9 the win, it’s 3/1 the draw and a home win is 7/1. I expect Soldado to start and I’m taking 7/2 for first goalscorer, thank you very much.
