Today's other matches: Mata's looking to make amends in Munich

 

Paul Short
Saturday 12 May 2012 16:46 EDT
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League apart: Juan Mata's Chelsea face a season outside the European elite
League apart: Juan Mata's Chelsea face a season outside the European elite (AP)

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Chelsea v Blackburn

Chelsea's failure to finish in the top four of the Premier League has given them even more determination to win the Champions' League, according to the club's Player of the Year, Juan Mata. Chelsea will finish sixth whatever their result today and failure to beat Bayern Munich in next Saturday's final will exclude them from the Champions' League for the first time since Roman Abramovich bought the club nine years ago.

"We want to win for the club, and for us, because we can make history for Chelsea," said Mata. "But, as well, it's important to play in the Champions' League next year. Chelsea always want to be in the Champions League."

Steve Kean wants a show of strength from Blackburn before they head down into the Championship."We have got a few injury worries but we will be picking the strongest possible team and will attempt to get a positive performance and a win at Chelsea," said the Rovers manager. "That is what we have to do."

Swansea v Liverpool

Kenny Dalglish is already preparing for next season and apart from defender Fabio Aurelio, whose contract expires next month, has no plans to release or sell any of his squad. The Liverpool manager dismissed speculation that Dirk Kuyt, who is interesting Hamburg, and Maxi Rodriguez, who tweeted his apparent goodbyes after Tuesday's 4-1 win over Chelsea, would be leaving.

"We are not looking to move anyone out. The only one who will be moving out will be Fabio as his contract is up," said Dalglish. Kuyt reportedly had a £1m release clause written into his last contract while Rodriguez wrote on Twitter: "Last home game and had a goodbye to the fans. Thank you very much to the people of Liverpool for much love".

Victory for Swansea today could mean a top-10 finish in their first season in the Premier League but would leave Liverpool as low as ninth and below Everton for the first time since 2005. "For us to finish in the top 10 would be an absolutely brilliant achievement," said Brendan Rodgers, the Swansea manager.

Norwich v Aston Villa

The Norwich defender, Adam Drury, described his side's return to the Premier League as "unbelievable". The 33-year-old, who has been at Carrow Road for 11 years, said: "If you had said that going into the last game, we could be looking to finish as high as 12th, people would have thought you were joking." Emile Heskey and Carlos Cuellar are likely to make their final appearances for Aston Villa whose manager, Alex McLeish, will make changes this summer. "We have to bring in some added quality to the squad," he said.

Wigan v Wolves

Terry Connor believes the new Wolves manager, Stale Solbakken, will be under pressure to guide the club straight back up. But the interim manager, who will remain at Molineux, added: "He'll come into a club that's ready to turn their fortunes around. I think there's a good platform here to work from. We'll go to Wigan and give it our best shot. We want a positive end to the season."

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