Chelsea V Sunderland

Saturday, 16^th January – 15:00 GMT

Chelsea

League Position: 1st

Recent Form: DWDDW

The Chelsea express that was chugging along just fine in the early part of the season hasn’t yet come to a firm halt but has been met with a few bumps through Christmas. The blues’ have never been a huge fan of the busy period over Christmas which is usually packed with festive fixtures and the fact that they drew more games then they won clearly highlighted their humbug spirit. However, Sunderland, a team they beat 3-1 at The Stadium of Light back in August, could provide them with some valuable fuel as they aim to drive full pelt through a difficult month without some of their big African names.

Chelsea be aiming to start the new year a whole better then they ended it having won just two of their six fixtures in December. However, Chelsea have been a colossal outfit at home, Stamford Bridge, this season and it will take a brave punter to oppose them in this contest with a Sunderland team on the decline. Carlo Ancelotti’s men have only dropped two points at home all season and boast the strongest home record in the league 9-1-0. Only Everton have been able to withstand the sheer force of Chelsea at home this season, that being a thrilling 3-3 draw, but the blues have since gone on to winning back-to-back games at home after wins over Portsmouth & Fulham, neither all that convincing it has to be said.  

Chelsea are definitely going through a weird old patch where no one in the team is playing particularly well but they’re still one of the toughest nuts to crack. They may only have registered nine points from a possible fifteen but they are unbeaten in five and remain one of just two teams in the league to still have their unbeaten home record in tact for the season. Also, Chelsea’s last time out was an FA Cup fixture with Watford as their Premiership game with Hull City was called off at the weekend. Ancelotti watched on as his side tore threw Watford like a knife through butter, with Chelsea running out comfortable 5-0 winners.

Their performances haven’t been the greatest of late but even a satisfactory one really should be enough for them to see off Sunderland on Saturday. They’ve been close to perfect at home this season in terms of getting the right result, a winning result, but a slight concern will in that their usually stern and solid defence has conceded at least once in it’s three previous home games. Still, Chelsea have been more than accomplished themselves in front of goal and have managed to score 27 goals at The Bridge this season, the second best home offence in the league, and this powerful offence, even without Didier Drogba, should be far too hot for Sunderland to handle.

Sunderland

League Position: 11th

Recent Form: DLLDD

After a terrific start to the season which not only included a surge up the table but victories over Arsenal & Liverpool and even a well earned 2-2 draw at Old Trafford, Sunderland have gone completely off the boil and are struggling to even win a game at present. They did, however, record their first win in God knows how long when they beat Conference side, Barrow Town, in the FA Cup to book their place in the next round but will that win over a minnow really do anything to boost their apparent lack of confidence?

That wave of euphoria that Sunderland were clearly riding on earlier in the season has turned into a splatter as a seven match streak without a league win opens up and swallows them whole. 21^St, November 2009 the last time Sunderland won a league fixture. That was a 1-0 win over third place Arsenal of all teams but that’s their only win in eleven games. We will admit that Sunderland haven’t always had the rub of the green, a late Portsmouth goal being a prime example, but Sunderland are no longer playing with that early seasons swagger. The novelty of Darren Bent joining and scoring has worn off, the absence of Lee Cattermole through injury has been costly, while this severe dip in form looks likely to cost the club any chance of finishing in Europe.  

Although Sunderland’s start to the season was bright, the Sun only really came out to play when Sunderland were playing at home. The Black Cats have been terrible travellers all season and have just the solitary away win to their name after ten outings. That even came on the opening day of the season at Bolton, a team near the very pit of the table, nine away ventures ago and a whole four months back. Since then, Sunderland have managed to draw twice but lose seven, which is a far cry from their form at home.

We can’t quite put our finger on where it’s gone wrong for Sunderland and neither can their manager, Steve Bruce. He needs to somehow raise his troops for this away day out as they could be on the wrong end of a Chelsea spanking. Bruce’s side haven’t kept a clean sheet since that opening day success at Bolton, a run of nine games without keeping a shut-out. They conceded two away at Blackburn in their last away outing in a 2-2 draw, and if Blackburn can put two past them then it doesn’t bare thinking about what Chelsea will do to their half-hearted defence.

Head-to-Head (Last 9):

Chelsea W: 9 Sunderland W: 0 Draws: 0

•  Chelsea have won all nine previous meetings with Sunderland in the Premiership.

   

•                     Chelsea won the last fixture 3-1 back at The Stadium of Light.

•  In four meetings at Stamford Bridge, Sunderland have yet to score their first goal.

•  Two of Chelsea’s four victories at home have come by 2-0, while they won 5-0 at home last season.

•  Six of the nine meetings have produced three or more goals, although just two have occurred at home out of four.

• Frank Lampard has scored in his previous two home matches against Sunderland.

Match Verdict: Chelsea to WIN – 1.25 Bet365

This should be straightforward for Chelsea, regardless of some big absentee’s. Sunderland have never scored a goal at The Bridge let alone took any points away with them and we don’t expect this dire run, or dominant if you’re a Chelsea supporter, to come to an end this Saturday. Chelsea have been very solid at home and extremely consistent. They’ve won nine of ten, with only Everton, a team who drew at Arsenal on Saturday, holding Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, and Sunderland simply aren’t capable of equal such a feat. This could be a landslide result if Sunderland aren’t careful.

Match Odds:

Chelsea – 1.25 Bet365

Draw – 6.00 Boylesports

Sunderland – 15.00 SkyBet

SoccerBetting Value Tip: Frank Lampard Anytime Scorer – 2.63 Boylesports