Stoke City vs Chelsea Preview, Team News, Likely Line-ups & Predicted Score

Chelsea will be looking to continue their fine form when they take on Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Blues will be switching their focus back to the Premier League after easing in to the fourth round of the League Cup in midweek with a 5-1 victory over Nottingham Forest.

Antonio Conte’s side dropped three points off the pace in the league after drawing 0-0 with Arsenal last weekend so the defending champions will be hoping to close the gap with a win st Stoke.

Mark Hughes is desperate for points as the Potters have failed to win in their last three games but Chelsea will know Stoke can perform when the big-boys come to town after watching them beat Arsenal earlier in the season.

Team news

Chelsea are ready to hand Eden Hazard his first start of the new season after he came through the Forest game unscathed on Wednesday night having recently recovered from a broken foot.

Pedro is also available again after overcoming a minor leg injury that kept him out in midweek but David Luiz is suspended and Danny Drinkwater remains out with a calf problem.

Thibaut Courtois, Cesar Azpilicueta, N’Golo Kante, Victor Moses, Marcos Alonso, Willian and Alvaro Morata are set for recalls after being rested in midweek.

Stoke have serious issues in defence as Kurt Zouma isn’t eligible to face his parent club while Ryan Shawcross misses out with a back injury.

Geoff Cameron is also out with a hamstring injury while Kevin Wimmer is a doubt with his own hamstring trouble so Erik Pieters may have to play in defence.

Likely Line-Ups

Predicted Score

Stoke 1-2 Chelsea: The Blues have an excellent record on the road as they’ve won seven of their last eight league games away from Stamford Bridge including wins at Tottenham and Leicester this season. Stoke were fortunate to beat Arsenal earlier in the season and have otherwise struggled against the ‘top six’ in recent times so I think Chelsea will edge this.