Another weekend and another tough game for Chelsea in the league this time in the form of Stoke City who currently sit in the middle of the table in 10th place.
After a difficult week for the blues with losses to Crystal Palace and PSG in quick succession Chelsea will be hoping to turn it around this weekend, however they would of hoped for an easier opponent than Stoke to change their fortune. The London club do have home advantage though and they remain unbeaten in the league under manager Jose Mourinho in an impressive 76 games.
Stoke will hope to be the team to break that record though as they come into this game full of confidence with an excellent run of form behind them. In the last 5 games The Potters have won 4 games and drew 1 in the league meanwhile Chelsea have won 3 and in impressive fashion but then slumped to 2 loses against Aston Villa and as already mentioned Crystal Palace last weekend. Chelsea have the upper hand against Stoke in head to head matches though with a 4 wins out of 5, Stoke narrowly won the other game 3-2 back in December of last year. An interesting stat of those 5 head to head games played is that Chelsea have won 1-0 in the 3 games at Stamford Bridge, maybe a good tip for betting ahead of the game!
As for injury and suspensions Chelsea will be without Samuel Eto’o and Mikel as they are both injured and Ramires is also out as he serves the final game of his suspension. Ashley Cole has now recovered from his injury and could come back into the squad but will probably be on the bench. Mati? will also come back into the side after being ineligible during the week against PSG. Meanwhile Stoke will be without Qussama Assaidi as he remains sidelined with his knee injury and Jonathon Walters comes back into the side after serving a 3 match ban.
Chelsea have no option but to step up their game against Stoke in what will no doubt be a difficult game but after recent weeks and a few poor performances a win is needed now and also to give the team a confidence boost ahead the remaining games of the season. In the other significant games in the race for the title Manchester City will play Southampton who have had an unexpectedly impressive season, worth remembering they did actually beat and draw with City in the games against them last year. In the other games Arsenal are away to in form Everton who are currently trying to get into the top four so will in no way be an easy game for our London rivals. Infact a win for Everton and they will be just one point behind Arsenal. Liverpool will be away to West Ham in a slight mismatch of teams with West Ham winning 2 and losing 3 of their last 5 games and Liverpool winning all 5 of their last 5. Liverpool would no doubt be expected to win although in this league an upset is always possible as shown time and time again.
So as the heat is turned up even further on the race for the title with some great fixtures this weekend all could change at that top of the league once again. The most important game this weekend is our own though so letÂ’s get a win under our belts and see what happens elsewhere before turning our attention to the return leg in the champions league against PSG.
