English Premier
2011-08-14 - Stoke vs Chelsea
A Sports Betting Pick by Addicted
Football : English Premier League
Sunday, August 14th, 2011, 1:30PM GMT
STOKE CITY
Tony Pulis' team is now in Europe, having been fortunate enough to lose the FA Cup final to Manchester City, who had already qualified for the Champions League and so did not need the Europa League berth. This is a tough start to the Premier League campaign for him though, as Stoke are missing a whole host of players.
Rory Delap and his long throw ins will be missed, as he has a hamstring problem. Matthew Etherington, Danny Higginbotham and Ricardo Fuller are all still out with injuries too. The club has added Matthew Upson on a free but he is out for this one too.
Jonathan Woodgate should make his debut, along with Robert Huth. They will need to be at their best to avoid Chelsea running roughshed over Stoke, as the London side has outscored Stoke 18-3 over the last 7 games!
CHELSEA
Andre Villas-Boas has returned to Chelsea, but this time to manage the club all on his Todd and already everyone expects him to push Manchester United all the way. The young Portugese worked under Mourinho during Chelsea's most successful years and comes back having won everything back in Portugal. The real test starts on Sunday.
Last year Chelsea opened their season with a 6-0 win over West Brom. They might not win by that margin here, as Stoke are not easy to play, especially at home. However, Chelsea have bossed Stoke in recent games, winning 6 of their last 7 matches.
Drogba is set to start although Torres has been passed fit too now, so there is plenty of talent for the West London club going forward. Malouda and Anelka play on either side, while the midfield is strong, missing only Essien. Captain John Terry and Alex are both in the team in defence, as is Cech. All in all a strong looking team, which Stoke will be lucky to get a point off.
BETTING VERDICT
Opening day has always seen Chelsea do well. There is talk of Stoke being more match fit as they have already played in Europe but there is too much of a gulf in talent here and I can see Chelsea asking questions for 90 mins and that is far too long for Stoke to hold out. It might be close, but Chelsea should come out with 3 points.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Chelsea to win
