Chelsea vs Stoke City
England Premier League.
Date: Saturday, 31st December 2016.
Kick-off at 15:00 UK.
Venue: Stamford Bridge, London.
Chelsea are currently six points clear of second-placed Liverpool, having embarked on a remarkable 12-match League winning spree since losing to the Gunners back in September.
But, speaking ahead of Stoke's visit on Saturday, Chelsea manager Conte said their title rivals have plenty of time to recover the deficit.
"Twelve wins in a row is a great achievement but it is not enough to win the league at this point of the season," he said.
Stoke travel to London on the back of a 4-1 defeat at second-placed Liverpool on Tuesday night, and will look to improve their league form having not won a Premier League match since December 3.
Chelsea: Team News
Diego Costa and N’golo Kante returns after serving their one match ban and are expected to walk straight into Antonio Conte’s starting line-up.
Meanwhile, Pedro misses out due to accumulation of yellow cards. John Obo Mikel and Marco van Ginkel are already sidelined through injury.
Chelsea: Predicted Starting Line-up (3-4-3)
Courtois – Cahill, Luiz, Azpilicueta – Alonso, Kante, Matic, Moses – Hazard, Willian, Costa.
Stoke City: Team News
Marko Arnautovic is the key player missing for Stoke City in their trip to North London as he serves the last of his three-match ban here.
Jack Butland, Stephen Ireland, Phil Bardsley and Geoff Cameron are injured, while Marc Muniesa is a major doubt.
Stoke City: Predicted Starting Line-up (4-2-3-1)
Grant – Pieters, Shawcross, Indi, Johnson – Whelan, Imbula – Shaqiri, Allen, Diouf – Walters.
Chelsea vs Stoke City: Head-to-Head Statistics
Both sides met 3 times during the 2015/2016 season; first in the Carling Cup, and a two legged affairs in the league.
However, Stoke city had a better smile in those 3 games in total; getting wins in 2, and sharing point in 1.Stoke scored a late second half goal to savage a point in their last visit to the bridge.
In the last 10 league meetings between this sides, Chelsea can boast of 6 wins compared to Stoke 2. The blue have also failed to suffer defeat in stoke city’s last 10 competitive games visit to the bridge, conceding just thrice in those 10 visit by potters.
Chelsea vs Stoke City: Prediction
Chelsea are in the bet form of their life, and will be having two of their top player back after a game suspension. Antonio Conte will have the services of Diego Costa and N’Golo Kante back for this game, a circumstance which for sure will send fear down the spine of Stoke fans.
On the other hand, Stoke have falling like pack of card in away meeting with the teams at the top of the Premier League table. Mark Hughes’ men have conceded 7 goals in 2 away clash with teams like Liverpool and Arsenal. So we can expect Chelsea to extend their winning streak to 13 games with Diego Costa getting a goal in his return to the starting line-up.
Chelsea vs Stoke City: Bet Tips
Chelsea to win first half at 1.75 (3/4)
Both Teams to Score and Over 2.5 match goals at 2.50 (6/4).
