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Having lost two of their last five league games, Chelsea will be looking to steal top spot momentarily with a win at home to relegation-battling Sunderland.
Chelsea can take top spot in the Premier League with a win on Saturday evening and put the pressure back on Liverpool, who play Norwich City on Sunday.
The Blues have won their last two matches after a terrible 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace which saw John Terry score an own goal. With Sunderland picking up a point at Manchester City in midweek, Chelsea will know the Black Cats will be fired up for their trip to London as they need points to avoid relegation, and they need them soon.
Team News
Chelsea
Eden Hazard is the big worry for Chelsea. He is a doubt with a calf injury and could play some part. It is unlikely that he will start, but if passed fit, he should start on the bench. Marco van Ginkel finally returned to action for the club’s Under-21s earlier this week so could even make the substitutes bench and possibly a late return to the first-team.
Sunderland
Gus Poyet has no new injury worries after their fantastic 2-2 draw at Manchester City. Carlos Cuellar, Steven Fletcher, Keiren Westwood and Ki are still injured and none of the four are likely to feature at any part at Stamford Bridge.
Predicted Line-Ups
Both sides could probably go with the same sides that they started with in their last game after good results. However, I think Jose Mourinho will take Demba Ba out of the side and bring Samuel Eto’o back, who has been superb at Stamford Bridge this season.
Ba could potentially start at Anfield and offer a physical presence against Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho a week later so a rest for the striker could be on the cards. David Luiz could also come back into the side after starting on the bench against Swansea City last weekend.
Mohamed Salah’s recent good form could also be rewarded with another start at home.
Chelsea 4-2-3-1: Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Matic, Luiz; Salah, Oscar, Willian; Eto’o
Poyet will probably go with the same side that performed so well at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Sunderland 4-2-3-1: Mannone; Vergini, O’Shea, Brown, Alonso; Cattermole, Larsson; Johnson, Borini, Colback; Wickham
Recent Form
Chelsea’s recent form has been hampered by two damaging away defeats to Aston Villa and Crystal Palace but a stonking 6-0 win against Arsenal ended their hopes of a title challenge and allowed Everton to close the gap on the top four.
They have won their last two games, though, beating Stoke City 3-0 at home then grabbing a valuable 1-0 win away to Swansea last week. Two winners in a week from Demba Ba were vital as the Blues kept up pace with Liverpool and stayed in the Champions League.
Sunderland’s form is extremely worrying. Their run of defeats was ended by a fantastic 2-2 draw at Man City in midweek. They could have won it, too, had Mannone not spilled the ball across the line in the dying moments of the match.
They need something from Stamford Bridge if they’re to stay up. They are running out of time.
Players to Watch
Chelsea – Mohamed Salah
The former Basel man has been brilliant in recent weeks for Chelsea, scoring his first goal for the club in the 6-0 drubbing of Arsenal. In Eden Hazard’s absence, he has performed admirably and provided the creative spark lacking while Hazard has been out.
He has created six chances in his first six league appearances for the club, scoring twice in the process, too. He’s converted 20% of his chances, hitting the target 40% of the time.
Sunderland – Fabio Borini
Borini has been a decent loan signing for Sunderland this season. He’s grabbed three goals in the league – which isn’t a great figure – and has been fantastic in the big games. He was magnificent in Sunderland’s run to the Capital One Cup.
He scored as Sunderland knocked Chelsea out and he scored against Manchester United in the semi-final. Sunderland also took the lead in the final at Wembley thanks to his fantastic finish, shaking off Vincent Kompany. He thrives on the big games and has scored in two separate Tyne-Wear derbies against Newcastle.
He is a threat in the final third, creating 20 chances in the league this season.
Prediction
Chelsea will win this one. If they get an early goal, it could be curtains for Sunderland but the relegation-threatened side fought well at the Etihad Stadium and will use that confidence to lift them at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea 3-1 Sunderland
