Chelsea F.C. — Best pictures!

Chelsea’s Portugal international Deco will be in the starting lineup in today’s Premier League game against No. 8 Birmingham City. If he produces a strong performance, his FTBL score could improve substantially.

The plank to beat for Chelsea’s Frank Lampard in the Premier League game against Arsenal was a daunting 25 points, and it could have been overcome only by scoring a goal, which Lampard did not do, but the convincing 3:0 win cushioned the ensuing drop

Chelsea’s Germany skipper Michael Ballack (pictured) captured the 4th spot in the FTBL ranking of midfielders in the English Premier League after scoring the opener as the Blues overcame a fiercely combative Sunderland 3:1 in league action.

The Tottenham – Liverpool matchup (2:1) had entirely opposite consequences for the leaders of both teams: if Spurs’ Aaron Lennon managed to boost his FTBL rating, the same cannot be said of Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard.

Chelsea defender and England international Ashley Cole will face a daunting plank (for a defender) of 19 rating points to beat tonight as the Blues take on Sunderland in the second round of the new Premier League season.