Sunderland Vs Chelsea Match Preview

Article by Robert Wake

Capital One Cup Quarter Final

Stadium of Light, Tuesday 17^th December

Summary

A little under two weeks since these teams last met in a seven goal thriller, they lock horns again in the Capital One Cup with a place in the last four up for grabs. It is likely that both teams will make several changes for this encounter, with both Clubs likely to prioritise important Premiership fixtures at the weekend. Sunderland may give opportunities to Andrea Dossena, Craig Gardner, Jack Colback, Steven Fletcher and Adam Johnson, while Chelsea are likely to recall Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, John Obi Mikel, Andre Schurrle, Oscar and Samuel Eto’o to the starting line-up. Jose Mourinho may resist the temptation to include Eden Hazard who terrorised the home defence a fortnight ago. Branislav Ivanovic is suspended for the visitors.

History

The Clubs have only met once in the various guises of the League Cup, in 1984-85 in a two-legged semi-final. Sunderland won the first leg 2-0 at Roker Park on a rock hard pitch with a brace from Colin West. The second leg at Stamford Bridge was more memorable for a pitch invasion by Chelsea supporters that temporarily stopped the game which Sunderland won 3-2, with West again on target, as was former Bridge favourite Clive Walker. Sunderland lost the subsequent final 1-0 to Norwich City through an own goal by Gordon Chisholm.

Prediction

As stated in my recent review of the Premier League match between the two, Chelsea have a very good recent record on this ground, having won 8 of the last 9 matches played at the Stadium of Light. I expect another tight game on Tuesday night, with Chelsea shading another high scoring encounter, possibly after extra time.

Sunderland 2-3 Chelsea (AET)