EPL: Chelsea V Stoke City – Saturday, 28th August

Chelsea V Stoke City

Saturday, 28th August – 15:00 GMT

Chelsea

League Position: 1st
League Form: WW

I think we would all agree that Chelsea’s opening half-dozen league fixtures were never really going to trouble them, beginning their title defence with two lightweight encounters on paper home to West Brom and then away to Wigan Athletic. But even so, the manner in which Chelsea have both approached the new Premier League campaign and the ease at which they have dismantled their opening two opponents has been nothing less than impressive – Putting six past both West Brom and Blackpool in what is shaping up to be the most impressive start to a defence of the Premier League crown anyone has ever seen.

We feel it will only get better before it gets worse, as Chelsea’s next couple of fixtures are corkers from a scoring point of view. First up is Stoke City, whom they thrashed a staggering 7-0 at the Bridge near the end of last season against a team not known for their heavy defeats. Then they travel to Upton Park to take on London rivals West Ham, before a home fixture with Blackpool. All three games have the potential to produce goals for Chelsea, although Saturday’s opponents Stoke are arguably their toughest but a roaring home crowd just might be enough to ensure the Blues inflict even more woes on their opponents with another out-of-this-world scoreline.

So far, Didier Drogba has been the heart of everything positive about Chelsea. Despite reaching the ripe old age of 32 earlier this year, Drogba is still playing as those he’s at his peak, performing like a striker possessed. He scored a hat-trick on the opening day against West Brom, but it was his willingness to merely play the role of provider at the DW stadium which had us sit up and take note of just how brilliant a player Drogba really is. The Ivorian could of scored his second successive hat-trick but instead opted to set up his team-mates, which just goes to show how the bulky forward has matured during his time in England from being that controversial figure because of his diving to simply a magnificent athlete and footballer. It was rumoured that Jose Mourinho wanted Drogba at Real Madrid. With the form he’s in right now, I’d go out on a limb and say no money would prize Chelsea from selling their most destructive player regardless of his age.

If Chelsea do not pick up all three points for the third week running it will surely be one of the biggest turn up for the books in recent years. There is absolutely no form or statistic to indicate that Stoke are even capable of getting close to Chelsea. The Potters have already fallen to their first away defeat of the season when losing at Wolves and backed that miserable outing up with a home loss to Champions League suffering Tottenham. But that’s merely the start, as Chelsea were scintillating at home when winning all but two of their home fixtures at Stamford Bridge in the league, scoring a mouthwatering 68 goals but conceding a miserly 14. They’ve already leathered one team for six and punters and pundits alike wouldn’t even batter an eyelid if Stoke were to go the same way on Saturday – Chelsea to make it three from three all day long!

Stoke City

League Position: 18th
League Form: LL

The Potters are making their third appearance in the Barclay’s Premier League but are potentially 90 minutes away from making it three defeats in a row following a succession of 2-1 defeats in the league to Wolves and Tottenham Hotspur. With survival once again the primary objective, it’s crucial Stoke break out of their early-season slump as soon as possible and begin accumulating points. By this time last season they already had a win under their belts, so will we get a response from Tony Pulis’ men this weekend as they make the trip to the English capital to take on the free-scoring league leaders, Chelsea.

If ever there’s a team Stoke didn’t want to face right, what with their miserable start to the season and the confidence of the players not exactly booming right now, it was a Chelsea side which have scored six goals in each of their opening couple of league outings. Stoke have felt the wroth of Chelsea recently in fact, getting thumped 7-0 by the Blues in the closing stages of last season at Stamford Bridge, and Pulis will be praying his players will have learnt from their exertions that day in what remains their biggest Premier League defeat to date.

Tony Pulis had to do without summer signing Kenwyn Jones on Saturday as his side came up short against Harry Redknapp’s Tottenham Hotspur, with the Trinidad & Tabago player damaging his ankle on his début for the club, although the injury is thought to be minor and Jones could even line up in attack alongside Ricardo Fuller for Saturday’s trip to Stamford Bridge. I wouldn’t necessarily rule out Tuncay Sanli starting though, as the Turkish international made a real different when he came on as a second half substitute against Spurs at the weekend, causing mayhem in the Tottenham penalty area and really should have converted an easy opening to level the scoring.

It is understandable how Tony Pulis might be caught in two minds about how to approach a game of this magnitude against an opponent bang in form and scoring goals for fun. So far all of Stoke’s success in front has come from set-pieces, corners in fact, but Stoke actually caused Spurs far more problems when Tuncay entered the fray and made some darting runs into the penalty area, something no other Stoke player really has the ability to do with the exception of Matthew Etherington. However, it is unlikely that Tony Pulis will target anything other than a point, so the aim will be to remain compact and organised at the back in a bid to repel the bombardment of Chelsea attacks and possibly nick a point. Ricardo Fuller could be deployed as a lone front man as Pulis fills out the midfield with the aim of reducing the amount of space Chelsea can play into. 

Match Prediction: Chelsea to WIN – 1.13 PaddyPower

There’s absolutely no doubt Stoke will set themselves up to defend for the entirety of this fixture, as the likelihood of them scoring against a defence which has yet to concede a single is slim. By the same token, I don’t see how Chelsea won’t find a way through Stoke’s organised rearguard at some point or another, they just have too much going for them in the final third for Stoke to keep them at bay for the full 90 minutes.

Stoke have defended in a resolute manner at big grounds before, more notably at Anfield a couple of seasons ago when they stopped Liverpool playing their usual game and restricted them to long distance efforts. Chelsea, though, have more attacking options than Liverpool had that day and the Reds weren’t in the sort of form at which Chelsea are right now, which is almost unstoppable.

Match Odds:

Chelsea – 1.13 PaddyPower
Draw – 9.50 WilliamHill
Stoke City – 26.00 Boylesports

Soccer-Betting Tip: Frank Lampard to Score 2 Goals or More – 6.00 SkyBet