Chelsea FC Manager Maurizio Sarri has one thing in common with Ebenezer Scrooge- he would much rather work on Christmas than celebrate it. If Sarri would have said “bah humbug,” the catch-phrase of the main character from “A Christmas Carol,” at his Friday news conference it would have been apt.
That’s because the Blues boss made some remarks that evoked Charles Dickens’ timeless classic novel (which astoundingly no publisher wanted and hence it was self-published) set in London. Sarri said he prefers to play football over celebrating the holidays, and declared no Christmas for the west London side this year as he detailed the fixture congestion that accompanies the festive period.
Tis the season!
“There is no Christmas for us,” the Italian remarked at his weekly news conference ahead of the league fixture against Leicester City.
“We have to play every three days: (December) 19, 22, 26, 30, (January) 2, 5, 8/9. So there is no Christmas for us. It depends only on the match. If the match is in the evening, we can stay at home the evening before. If the match is at 3 p.m. or 1 p.m., we will go to the hotel, as usual.”
Sarri, who has publicly discussed his habit of hermetically sealing himself for many hours when prepping for a match, said his team will train on Christmas Day in the morning and also in the afternoon on Christmas Eve.
A reporter also asked him if he enjoys Christmas on a personal level, to which Sarri responded: “No, I like more to play football.”
“I am lucky, in Serie B in Italy, we played over Christmas and I liked it very much. In the Italian stadia, there was a wonderful atmosphere. In Italy, it’s not really very easy (to have that kind of electric atmosphere).”
Well, it is the hap-happiest season of all.
Chelsea FC vs Leicester City FC FYIs
Kick-off: 3:0o pm (BST), 10:00 am (EST), Saturday December 22nd, Stamford Bridge
Google Result Probability: Chelsea FC win- 72%, Draw 19%, Leicester City win- 9%
Odds via William Hill: Chelsea FC win 3/10, draw 17/4, Leicester City 10/1
Injury Report: go to this link
Chelsea starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Prediction: Chelsea FC 2, Leicester City 1
Given how this series has gone lately, and the recent form shown by the two sides, it’s pretty difficult not to pick Chelsea in this contest.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.