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With a relatively quiet transfer window and a disappointing performance against Swansea City, there's some worry that Chelsea will have some difficulty in finishing in fourth place this season and therefore securing a place in the 2012/13 edition of the UEFA Champions League. That's a perfectly reasonable stance - the Blues have had a fairly awful season so far and we could probably have done with reinforcements not named Gary Cahill - and I have to admit that I'm fairly concerned about our eventual finishing position as well.
Depressingly, our main rivals for fourth appear to be Arsenal, and we've been hearing for months how they'll obviously be much better once Jack Wilshere and Bacary Sagna are back in action (nevermind that Michael Essien is back from his ACL problem). Sagna might be back, but... well, there's some good news for us on the Wilshere front. And much as I loathe relying on the Daily Mail for things, it's still transfer deadline day where I'm writing from and so some of the rules are being bent.
Check it:
[Wilshere] was expected to return this month but broke down in training last week. Wilshere has since had a series of scans to determine the extent of the injury and the results indicate he has suffered another stress fracture in the same ankle.
-Source: Daily Mail.
Much as it's not nice to root for injuries, I sure wouldn't mind it if that report ended up being true. Arsenal are currently reliant on Mikel Arteta to run their midfield, and if Wilshere is out for the rest of the season will be entirely Arteta dependent for the rest of the year. It's difficult to take that as anything but good news.