Chelsea Strong Favourites To See Off Stoke

Premier League leaders Chelsea will be hoping to extend their lead at the top of the division to nine points with a win at home to Stoke City tonight. With Manchester City not playing until Sunday and Arsenal with a tricky tie against Liverpool, it is likely that Chelsea will open a gap over their main title rivals. Despite this, failing to see off Stoke would see the Blues as sitting ducks at which the likes of City, Arsenal and Manchester United can aim.

With relegation out of the question and a top seven finish increasingly unlikely, tenth placed Stoke will just be hoping to sustain their top half finish in these closing stages of the 2014-15 season. A surprise win against Jose Mourinho`s side could see the Potters jump to eighth should other results go their way. Fortunately for Mark Hughes` team, the six point gap between themselves and eleventh placed Crystal Palace means that they would not be moving down the table, no matter the size of the loss they may incur against the table toppers.

The two sides met at the Britannia Stadium back in December in the reverse Premier League fixture. On this occasion the visitors ran out the 2-0 winners thanks to a goal in either half. Parity reigned for just a couple of minutes before John Terry headed home the opener before Cesc Fabregas put the game beyond doubt with 12 minutes to play.

William Hill have 5/1 on Chelsea being able to fight out another 2-0 victory over Stoke at Stamford Bridge this evening. Whilst Terry is a 21/1 (32red, 888sport, unibet) chance to be the first goalscorer of the match, 12/1 (Betvictor, paddy Power) says Fabregas will score the final goal of the encounter. All of boylesports, ladbrokes, Sports Winner and Titanbet have 2/11 on Chelsea winning either half once again.

Indeed it is the champions-elect who are the strong favourites to take all three points at home in this clash. Almost all of the high street bookmakers have the best price of 3/10 on the Stamford Bridge outfit ruling supreme. Otherwise, 13/1 with Betvictor says that Mark Hughes` men will see their revenge on their December defeat and pick up all three points away from home. A draw is currently available at 5/1 (bet365, betfair, betfred, Totesport).

Chelsea are unbeaten since their 5-3 defeat away at Tottenham on New Year`s Day, racking up 11 points from their last five matches. Whilst they have an even longer unbeaten home record, they have not won either of their last two following 1-1 draws against both Burnley and Southampton. bet365 have 11/1 on Chelsea picking up their third consecutive 1-1 draw at home.

Both of the home victories in their last five games came without conceding and sportingbet have 33/40 on the London club winning to nil at home once again. The strong favourites for this match-up have scored only six goals in these last five matches at home, Diego Costa being the only player to hit the back of the net in multiple games in this period. The Spaniard is available at 21/20 (Stan James) to add to his tally at any time.

Stoke are without a win in their last two, though they have picked up nine points in their last five Premier League games. Their away record is almost as strong with Hughes` men having racked up seven points from their last five games on the road.

The Potters have scored five goals in their last five matches in this context though they have no clear top goalscorer. At 13/2 with paddy Power, Mame Biram Diouf is the favourite to score at any time for Stoke.

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04/04/2015     © Frixo 2024