Chelsea vs Stoke City Betting Pick | English Premier

English Premier

2012-03-10 - Chelsea vs Stoke City

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Chelsea v Stoke City
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 10 March 2012 - Kick Off 3pm

Chelsea

Roberto Di Matteo started his reign as the interim manager of Chelsea with a solid enough performance and win at Birmingham City in the FA Cup during the week and it is going to be interesting to see if the players improve their attitude now that Andre-Villa Boas has been removed. The more pressing issue is whether the Blues can make it back to the Champions League and they have a chance to press Arsenal in 4th place with a win here.

Chelsea are 5th in the Premier League table but they could move into 4th place if they win this game by more than 2 goals and that would create additional pressure on Arsenal ahead of their game against Newcastle United on Monday. The team have a solid 8-2-3 record at Stamford Bridge, scoring 30 goals and conceding 19 in those games.

It was the inconsistent form that pushed AVB out of the door at Stamford Bridge and they know they need to improve on a record of 3 wins from their last 12 League games if Chelsea are to have some relative success from here on out. The Blues are unbeaten in their last 5 games at Stamford Bridge in all competitions, winning 3 of those games.

John Terry is hoping to make an earlier than expected comeback for the team, but I would be more than surprised if he is risked ahead of the Napoli game on Wednesday night. Ashley Cole was not involved with the trip to Birmingham, but he is fit and completes a healthy squad for Di Matteo to choose from.

Stoke City

It looked like being involved in the Europa League may threaten Stoke City's position in the Premier League as their small squad struggled to get the balance right between the two competitions. However, back to back League wins at home has eased the pressure on the side, while Tony Pulis could be eyeing his second consecutive FA Cup Final appearance as the team plays in the Quarter Finals next week.

The two League wins helped move Stoke back into the top half of the table as they are back in 9th place of the Premier League. That also means that Stoke are almost certain to be playing in this League again next season, while they have also improved their away record this season. The Potters are 4-2-7 on their travels this season, scoring 9 goals and conceding 24 in those games, with only Fulham scoring less away from home.

After a sloppy run of form had seen the team lose 4 in a row in all competitions, Stoke are back on the right path with 3 wins from their last 4 games. The Potters have won just 1 of their last 5 away games in the Premier League and have lost back to back League games on their travels coming into this one.

Andy Wilkinson and Rory Delap are both going to need to pass late fitness tests to determine their availability. Tony Pulis has an otherwise full squad to choose from.

Head to Head

Chelsea, like many of the other top teams in the League, have struggled in trips to the Brittania Stadium to face Stoke City, but it is a different story when they face them at home.

Chelsea have won all 4 games at Stamford Bridge against Stoke since they returned to the top flight, the last 3 coming with a clean sheet to boot.

Prediction

I am still a little uncertain as to how things are going to develop at Stamford Bridge now that Andre-Villa Boas has been removed as manager, but this is the kind of game that their players would have won in the past and one that I expect them to win now.

Stoke City are a tough side, but Chelsea should be able to match them on the physical front, and the Potters also still haven't found their right tactics when playing the better teams away from home.

That is shown from the fact that they have already lost at Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City this season, scoring just 1 goal in those games, and also failing to score at Liverpool although earning a point from that game.

After back to back League wins at the Brittania Stadium, I think the Stoke players could be forgiven for looking forward to the big Quarter Final game in the FA Cup at Anfield next week and I think that will give the edge to Chelsea in this game.

With the problems Stoke have also seemingly had at the bigger away grounds, I think the Chelsea win to nil could be worth chancing in this one. The Blues have won their last 3 at home against Stoke without conceding a goal, while Stoke have also scored just 1 goal in their last 5 games against Chelsea overall.

At 2.38 offered, this looks the best way to take this game on.

The Statistics :

CHELSEA LAST SIX HOME FORM
	DATE	RESULT		OPPOSITION
	2012-02-25	W	3-0	H v Bolton
	2012-02-05	D	3-3	H v Man_Utd
	2012-01-14	W	1-0	H v Sunderland
	2011-12-31	L	1-3	H v Aston_Villa
	2011-12-26	D	1-1	H v Fulham
	2011-12-12	W	2-1	H v Man_City

STOKE_CITY LAST SIX AWAY FORM
	DATE	RESULT		OPPOSITION
	2012-02-11	L	2-1	A v Fulham
	2012-01-31	L	2-0	A v Man_Utd
	2012-01-14	D	0-0	A v Liverpool
	2012-01-02	W	1-2	A v Blackburn
	2011-12-21	L	3-0	A v Man_City
	2011-12-17	W	1-2	A v Wolves