The Big Preview: Sunderland v Chelsea

Article by Chelsea Correspondent Robert Wake

Stadium of Light, Wednesday 4th December 2013

Summary

Chelsea head to the north-east following back to back Premiership victories over West Ham and Southampton that have seen them leap-frog Liverpool to be Arsenal’s nearest challengers in a congested title race. The Blues now face consecutive away trips to Sunderland and Stoke in the space of four days, as they look to cement their title ambitions. The Black Cats have improved since the appointment of former Chelsea midfielder, Gustavo Poyet, tightening up defensively with the return of Wes Brown, but still struggling to score regularly at the other end. In their last outing, Sunderland were slightly unlucky not to take all three points at Villa Park in a goalless draw. In their last home game however, they pulled off a smash and grab 1-0 victory over travel sick Manchester City.

History

Chelsea have a good recent record at the Stadium of Light, suffering only one defeat, a 4-2 reverse in 2011, in the last 12 years in this fixture. Indeed, Chelsea have won seven of the last eight encounters on the Wearsiders home patch, including a 2-1 victory during Mourinho’s last spell in charge. In the corresponding fixture last season, The Blues won 3-1 with goals from Juan Mata and a brace from Fernando Torres, with Adam Johnson replying for Sunderland

Team News

Sunderland played Steven Fletcher and Fabio Borini up front against Villa, but it would be surprising if Poyet was as bold against Chelsea, possibly reverting to a five-man midfield in an attempt to stifle the visitor’s creativity in that department. Perhaps with this in mind, Jose Mourinho may opt to start with a 4-3-3 formation for this encounter, particularly as Oscar is a doubt after coming off with a minor injury on Sunday. Andre Schurrle and Willian were both unused on Sunday and could feature here, as could Demba Ba, who was instrumental in Chelsea’s second-half recovery against Southampton.

Prediction

Much depends on whether Chelsea have learned their lesson from their last trip to the north-east when they tamely surrendered to Newcastle. They must approach this fixture with the right attitude and mentality, as Sunderland will likely start at a high tempo. Chelsea need to match the hosts in the opening exchanges, and, should they achieve this, it is likely that their extra quality will prove decisive later in the game. I certainly do not expect Chelsea to have an easy ride here, but they will always create chances, and given Sunderland’s goal scoring problems, converting one may be enough for a narrow win.

Sunderland 0 Chelsea 1

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