Stoke vs Chelsea Preview, Team News, Likely Line-ups & Predictions

Chelsea will look to bounce back after a disappointing week when they take on Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Rafa Benitez side head into the game off the back of successive defeats including a home loss to local rivals Queens Park Rangers last time out in the Premier League and Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat to Swansea in the first leg of the Capital One Cup.

The Blues are already 14 points off the pace in the title race so will need three points this weekend if they are to maintain any hopes of retaining the title from Manchester City.

However, they will have a tough task on their hands with Stoke yet to lose at the Britannia this season. Tony Pulis’ side tasted defeat last time out against champions City at the Etihad but it was their first loss in 11 games.

Team News

Chelsea are boosted by the return to fitness of captain John Terry after the defender came through an under-21 match on Thursday unscathed. He’s in the squad to face Stoke this weekend but is likely to start from the bench as Benitez refuses to rush him back after 10 weeks out.

Petr Cech is also back in training and could be back between the sticks this weekend after 3 weeks on the sidelines with a groin complaint.

Demba Ba is pushing for a start after an impressive start to life at Stamford Bridge and may replace the struggling Fernando Torres up front after a poor showing against Swansea in midweek. Oriol Romeu and Yossi Benayoun are both out with long-term injuries.

Stoke boss Pulis has no fresh injury concerns ahead of the game but he may make some changes after resting several key men for last weeks 0-0 FA Cup draw with Crystal Palace.

Asmir Begovic and Kenwyne Jones are two players that are expected to return but defender Marc Wilson and midfielder Rory Delap are both definitely out.

Likely Line-ups

Betting preview and predictions

Stoke are in superb form at home this season and are yet to be beaten on home soil, so Chelsea will have to be on the top of their game to take anything away from the Britannia this weekend. Our friends over at Betegy have crunched the numbers and predictably they foresee a tight encounter making it their ‘extreme bet of the week’.

They predicted there is a 35% chance of a Chelsea away win, narrowly tipped ahead of the draw at 34&:

A Chelsea win is currently an even money bet but if betting on the exact score is more your thing, Betegy data predicts a 2-1 win for the Blues which is currently a 15/2 shot with William Hill.

Why not head over to Betegy and see what all the fuss is about? It’s free to join and you’ll receive free and accurate predictions for games throughout Europe every week. They have an excellent success rate so far so why not give it a try?

What would your line up be and what’s your score prediction for the game? Get involved in the comments section below.