Chelsea vs Sunderland Preview, Team News, Likely Line-Ups, Prediction & Betting

The stage is set for Premier League champions Chelsea to finally lift their trophy when they entertain Sunderland at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon.

The Blues wrapped-up the title against Crystal Palace earlier this month but have been made to wait to get their hands on the trophy for the first time since 2010.

Jose Mourinho’s men slumped to a disappointing 3-0 defeat to West Brom on Monday night so they will be keen to end the season in style in front of their own fans.

Sunderland will arrive in the capital safe in the knowledge that they’ll be playing top flight football again next season after securing their Premier League status with a 0-0 draw at Arsenal in midweek.

Team news

Chelsea playmaker Eden Hazard is expected to miss his first league game of the season after undergoing emergency surgery to remove three teeth on Thursday.

Midfielder Cesc Fabregas is suspended after his red card at West Brom, so he joins injured trio Kurt Zouma, Ramires and Oscar on the sidelines.

Mourinho has confirmed that Diego Costa will start and youngsters Andreas Christensen and Jeremie Boga will feature at some point during the game.

Petr Cech should start in goal if he can overcome a minor calf injury in what could be his final appearance for Chelsea.

Sunderland midfielder Sebastian Larsson is a doubt after picking up a knee problem while Lee Cattermole is a caution away from a suspension for next season.

Jordi Gomez, Wes Brown and Liam Bridcutt are all missing through injury.

Likely Line-Ups

Predicted Score

Chelsea 2-0 Sunderland: The visitors put a lot in at the Emirates on Wednesday night and they can relax now they are safe from relegation. Chelsea will want to end the season on a positive note so I can see a relatively straight-forward home win.

Betting Tips

Chelsea are the 4/11 favourites to win the game and my prediction of 2-0 is available at odds of 11/2. I also like the look of Diego Costa to open the scoring at odds of 11/4, and if we combine that with a 2-0 win in a score-cast, then we get very tempting odds of 11/1. Surely that’s got to be worth a couple of quid!?

BACK COSTA TO SCORE FIRST IN A 2-0 CHELSEA WIN  AT ODDS OF 11/1

What do you think? What line-up would you like to see start?