Chelsea face Stoke City this weekend in the Barclays Premier League. The Blues have been in terrific form for the past few weeks. In fact, they are yet to lose a game in the Premier League under Guus Hiddink. They have also got the most number of points in the League this year.
A lot of players who were out of form under Mourinho in the first half of the season have come alive in the second half. They have started to come up the table and have a very little chance of finishing top-4.
Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas and Mikel have all been in great form this year. So a win would be crucial to keep their pressure up on the top-6 teams.
It won’t be easy though, because Stoke are known to always cause problems to the big teams home or away. They have real quality players who can all cause big problems to the opposition.
Xherdan Shaqiri especially is in good form and will be a real handful to the opposition. So Chelsea will need to be careful with the former Bayern Munich player.
KEY BATTLES
Diego Costa Vs Jack Butland
Jack Butland has been a revelation this year. The young goalkeeper has been one of the best young players in the league. A lot of teams have been watching him and with good reason. Diego Costa meanwhile has been in great form these past few months. The Spanish striker has 11 goals in the Premier League this season and most of them in 2016. So it will be a very important battle between the two players. Butland made a fantastic save to deny Newcastle an equalizer in the last game and might have to do the same come tomorrow.
Shaqiri Vs Chelsea’s defense
Xherdan Shaqiri is a quality player who somehow found his way to Stoke City this season. No disrespect to Stoke, but he was a player who was tipped to be one of the best players in the world at this point. But that said, he isn’t an average player, he’s just highly inconsistent. On his day, he can be as good as anyone in the Premier League. He’s got a killer left foot, he’s a good dribbler and he’s got great strength, so Chelsea’s defense must be up for it. He drifts in and out to lose his marker so it would be hard to mark him. The defenders should keep an eye on him.
The Midfield Battle
Chelsea’s midfield this season has failed spectacularly in more than a few occasions to shield their defense. Something they did very well last season. A lot of this is down to the fact that Nemanja Matic has been in woeful form all season. This game will be a big test for Chelsea’s midfield as Stoke usually are very robust in midfield and use their strength to hit the opposition.
No comments:
Post a Comment