This afternoon’s late kick-off in the Premier League sees table-toppers Chelsea square-off with Stoke City at Stamford Bridge.
Earlier in the season, the Blues recorded a relatively comfortable 2-0 win at the Britannia Stadium, and now undefeated in the Premier League since New Years’ Day in the Premier League, claiming 21 points out of a possible 28, will likely be expecting a similar result this afternoon.
The Potters, however, are indisputably one of the most hardworking, well-organised and spirited sides in the English top flight; they’ll contest every ball for the full 90 minutes and draw particular motivation from their 3-2 win over the west Londoners during the 2013/14 campaign.
Could we see another upset this afternoon? Perhaps the starting line ups, just officially confirmed on Twitter, can shed some light on the issue:
Chelsea team v Stoke (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry (c), Azpilicueta; Matic, Fabregas; Willian, Oscar, Hazard; Remy. #CFC
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 4, 2015
Chelsea subs: Cech, Zouma, Filipe Luis, Ramires, Cuadrado, Drogba, Diego Costa. #CFC
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 4, 2015
#scfc Starting XI vs @ChelseaFC: Begovic; Cameron, Shawcross (c), Wollscheid, Wilson; Ireland, Whelan, Nzonzi, Adam; Walters, Diouf.
— Stoke City FC (@stokecity) April 4, 2015
#scfc Substitutes vs @ChelseaFC: Butland, Bardsley, Pieters, Muniesa, Arnautovic, Sidwell, Crouch. Come on Stoke!
— Stoke City FC (@stokecity) April 4, 2015
The biggest talking point, at least from a Chelsea perspective, will be Jose Mourinho’s decision to start Loic Remy over both Diego Costa and Didier Drogba.