Premier league giant Chelsea visits Britannia Stadium to take on home side Stroke City on Saturday. High-flying Chelsea will go into the match looking for three points, while Stroke City, on the back of last weekend’s excellent 0-0 draw away at Liverpool, will look to bring an end to Chelsea’s unbeaten league record so far this season. Getting the support of the home fans, newly promoted Stroke City will definitely try their best to replicate their Anfield form against Chelsea at home.
Match: Stroke City vs Chelsea; English Premier League 2008-2009
Date: 27 September 2008, Saturday
Venue: Britannia Stadium
Kick off: 15:00 BST (British Standard Time)
Chelsea is one of two ‘Big Four’ clubs who has not lost any match so far in the premier league. In the high-profile last weekend meeting with defending champion Manchester United at home, Chelsea salvaged a point thanks to a late goal from Salomon Kalou. However, the 1-1 stalemate against Manchester United cost Chelsea the top place in the league table with Arsenal climbing up to the top of the table. However, with 11 points from five matches, Chelsea is now within a point of Arsenal. So, losing any more point would see Chelsea going down in the table. Luiz Felipe Scolari’s men seem to be confident now after outclassing Portsmouth 4-0 in the third round Carling Cup encounter. However, Chelsea needs to be aware of resilient Stroke City defense.
Stroke City will face Chelsea for the first time since 1985 in a premier league meeting that Chelsea clinched 1-0. Stroke City has made it to the premier league once again, and has already showed that they have talent and skill to survive in the league, even though they are still in the 18th place of the point table with four points from five matches. However, Stroke City can take inspiration from their last weekend’s performance against Liverpool that saw them leaving Anfield with a deserved point. However, the kind of confidence booster performance was more precious than a mere draw with Liverpool, because the Potters will now know that they could come up with something impressive if they can give their best.
Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari has a number of injury problems to contend with. First, the Brazilian manager will miss Portuguese duo Ricardo Carvalho and Deco for the trip to Stroke City. Carvalho has been out for a month with knee injury, while Deco is on the way to recover from thigh injury. In the centre of Chelsea defense, Alex is expected to be features alongside Captain John Terry, while Michael Ballack will replace Deco in the midfield. Michel Essien’s long term injury has already weaken Chelsea’s strength in the midfield. However, Scolari signed free-agent midfielder Mineiro for a back up this week. However, the Brazilian is less like to feature Mineiro in the match against Stroke City.
Both Deco and Carvalho missed Wednesday’s 4-0 victory over Portsmouth in the third round match of Carling Cup 2009. Didier Drogba started for the first time this season in the Carling Cup encounter, but it is not yet confirmed if Scolari would keep him in the starting line up for the Stroke City showdown or keep his faith on Nicolas Anelka in the attacking line up.
Stroke City fans can be happy to know that Ricardo Fuller is looking to retain his place in the starting line up as he has recovered from knee problem. However, Stroke manager Tony Pulis will have a welcome problem at the heart of the defense because he has a number of choices to feature in the central defense alongside Abdoulaye Faye. Ibrahima Sonko will be in the contention for the starting line up as he has shaken off knee injury, but he has to compete with Leon Cort for getting a place in the first eleven. Last but not the least; Amdy Faye is also available for Chelsea’s visit to Britannia Stadium after serving one match suspension. However, Andrew Davies remains out as he needs more time to recover from injury.
Online Live Score and Updates
Here, I am giving some online live score websites from where you can get the live score and updates of the match:
Live Score
Goalzz
Live Football Scores
Goal.com
Footie Scorez
Chelsea is favorite against Stroke City, but Stroke City’s excellent form of recent coupled with their home advantage might give them some ground while taking on Chelsea. I would not be surprised to see Chelsea struggling to find net through a packed Stroke City defense. However, considering Chelsea’s recent goal scoring form, I think, Stroke City defense would find it more challenging to resist the Chelsea strikers than what they did against Liverpool in the previous match.
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