Chelsea v Stoke: the clue is blue……

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]t’s not often you could use the word giant-killing in the context of two teams from the same division but given their respective seasons a win for Stoke at Stamford Bridge this afternoon would be just that.

27 points separate the two sides, Chelsea two points off leaders Arsenal and Stoke in 14th – hovering just four points off the bottom three zone.

Supporters of Stoke will take heart from their 3-2 victory over Chelsea in December, sealed by a dramatic 90th minute winner from Oussama Assaidi who had only just come on from the bench.

HEAD TO HEAD RECORD
(Max last 10 only)
Dec 2013 Premier Stoke 3-2 Chelsea
Jan 2013 Premier Stoke 0-4 Chelsea
Sep 2012 Premier Chelsea 1-0 Stoke
Mar 2012 Premier Chelsea 1-0 Stoke
Aug 2011 Premier Stoke 0-0 Chelsea
Apr 2011 Premier Stoke 1-1 Chelsea
Aug 2010 Premier Chelsea 2-0 Stoke
Apr 2010 Premier Chelsea 7-0 Stoke
Mar 2010 FA Cup Chelsea 2-0 Stoke
Sep 2009 Premier Stoke 1-2 Chelsea

Overall though, as you can see from the stats, Chelsea have had the edge – including a 7-0 battering of the Potters in 2010.

Chelsea have won the competition seven times, with all seven of their victories coming between 1970 and 2012 and Mourinho has stated he is again taking it very seriously in this seasons priorities. Stoke are not immune to a good Cup run, they were finalists in 2011, where they lost to Manchester City at Wembley and manager Mark Hughes won the FA Cup four times playing for Manchester United and Chelsea.

Chelsea are without Juan Mata for obvious reasons and Fernando Torres who is out with a knee injury.

Teams

Chelsea (from): Cech, Ivanovic, Cole, Luiz, Essien, Ramires, Lampard, Oscar, Mikel, Schurrle, Hazard, Ba, Willian, Schwarzer, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Eto’o, Blackman.

Stoke (from): Begovic, Butland, Sorensen, Shawcross, Wilson, Pieters, Cameron, Muniesa, Shotton, Whelan, Nzonzi, Adam, Palacios, Ireland, Pennant, Assaidi, Arnautovic, Walters, Crouch, Jones, Guidetti.

The handicap markets have been kind to us recently and Chelsea (-2) at around 6/4 looks the call at the Bridge.

RECOMMENDED BET (1-10 points)

6 points CHELSEA (-2) at around 6/4 with Star Sports

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