Venue: Britannia Stadium
Date: Saturday, 12 September
Kick-off: 1500 BST
It definitely hasn’t been the best week Chelsea have ever had leading up to a Premier League game, so we’ll be hoping it doesn’t get any worse as we travel to Stoke. Still, at least the midlands is closer to home than some of the miles international duty has seen our players cover during the week and hopefully the trip won’t give them as much time to dwell on the Fifa bombshell. Stoke meanwhile will be mindful of our last meeting as they attempt to maintain their 100% home record and will no doubt try not to nod off a couple of minutes from time again.
Mind you, Stoke have to sweep a few cobwebs away to recall their last win over us, seeing as it was back in 1975 in the old first division. We’ve beaten them in our last five league meetings and a win at the Britannia Stadium today will equal our best ever top-flight record following our last nine straight wins.
MANAGER’S THOUGHTS
Our last meeting was described by Tony Pulis as one of his most “hurtful days in football” as he watched Stoke throw away a 1-0 lead and concede 2 goals in the last 2 minutes at Stamford Bridge. Right now though, the Potters boss seems focused on the bigger picture, stating “There will be those in the national media building us up after last season. And some of them may be doing that just so they can knock us down again. That’s the way it works and we mustn’t get carried away by all the hullabaloo. We have to realise where we are and remember that the Premier League remains a jungle for clubs like ourselves. We’re still trying to establish ourselves, and we can’t even begin to think we’ve done that until we’ve been here for three or four years, not just one year.”
Understandably enough given our longer-term prospects this season, Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti seems more confident of success in the short-term, suggesting “At the moment, my job is very simple: to train. I have, in the team, a very good mentality and attitude but we’re entering a very important period for us now. I think we’re in a good situation to do very well in this period. Between now and the end of October, we have a lot of important matches in the Premier League against Spurs and Liverpool, and the Champions League as well. We have to do the maximum and the best. After this period, we’ll know better how our season is going to pan out.”
SQUAD NEWS
Stoke could field a five-man defence, with possible starts for Robert Huth and Danny Collins and James Beattie (knee) could make a return from a 3-week absence, whilst Sidibe (knee) misses out.
For Chelsea, aside from a bit of jet-lag with 20 of our players on their travels mid-week, the internationals has seen us lose just the one player, with Deco picking up a calf injury. Apart from that, it’s as you were, with Zhirkov, Joe Cole, Ferreira (all knee) and Alex (groin) all remaining out.
LAST MEETING
Chelsea 2-1 Stoke (17 January, 2009)
TEAMS
STOKE (from): Sorensen, Wilkinson, Shawcross, Abdoulaye Faye, Higginbotham, Lawrence, Delap, Whelan, Etherington, Kitson, Fuller, Simonsen, Whitehead, Tuncay, Huth, Pugh, Griffin, Cresswell, Beattie, Cort, Amdy Faye.
CHELSEA (from): Cech, Turnbull, Hilario, Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Carvalho, A Cole, Ballack, Mikel, Lampard, Anelka, Drogba, Sturridge, Kalou, Malouda, Essien, Hutchinson, Belletti.
PREDICTION
It’s been a bit of a draining week for Chelsea what with Fifa doing their best to put a spanner in the works for us and internationals possibly disrupting our momentum. We’re often at our best when we’re wounded though, so Stoke will have to be a lot more alert this time around – particularly in the closing stages of the game – unless they want to feel the sting in Chelsea’s tail.
REFEREE
Mike Dean
