The English Premier League football match between Chelsea and Birmingham City kicks off on 20 April 2011. Chelsea has played 15 English Premier League matches this season on Stamford Bridge. On home ground Chelsea has won 11, drawn 2 and lost 2 matches. This ranks the Blues 2nd in home team performance in the English Premier League. Birmingham City has played 15 English Premier League matches this season away from home. On away ground Birmingham City has won 2, drawn 7 and lost 6 matches. This ranks the Blues 13th in away team performance in the English Premier League.
Alex and Ramires have failed to recover from hamstring injuries and will miss out for Chelsea. The Brazilian duo were expected to be fit after sitting out Saturday's 3-1 win at West Brom but will now be unavailable until after this weekend's clash with West Ham. Branislav Ivanovic is doubtful with a muscle strain, which was due to be assessed on Tuesday. Birmingham winger Jean Beausejour is back in contention. The Chile international missed the 1-1 draw at Blackburn and the 2-0 home success over Sunderland at the weekend with a hamstring strain. City boss Alex McLeish, whose side defeated Chelsea 1-0 at St Andrew's in November, has no fresh injury concerns, but strikers Nikola Zigic and Obafemi Martins plus defender Martin Jiranek remain sidelined with groin problems.Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Ferreira, Terry, Luiz, Ivanovic, Zhirkov, Cole, Mikel, Essien, Lampard, Benayoun, Kalou, Malouda, Anelka, Torres, Drogba, Turnbull.
Birmingham: Foster, Carr, Johnson, Ridgewell, Parnaby, Larsson, Gardner, Ferguson, Bowyer, Jerome, Phillips, Doyle, Hleb, Fahey, Derbyshire, Mutch, Davies, Bentley, Beausejour.
