Chelsea FC v Stoke City: Predictions

We’re just hours away from kick-off as Chelsea FC prepare to take on Stoke City. Let’s see how our writers feel the game is going to play out.

Chelsea welcome Stoke City to Stamford Bridge this afternoon for a Premier League clash. Given the bizarre campaign thus far, both sides are still harbouring hopes of a miraculous top four finish. Hence, this should be an intriguing contest.

Ahead of the game, I’ve accosted some of our writers in the corridors of our virtual Pride Of London office to get their thoughts.

Eric McCoy: Facing Stoke City under Mark Hughes as opposed to Tony Pulis means you have to be more concerned with sharp, incisive passing than you do snapped fibulas. They are coming off three consecutive wins and I think they will cause Chelsea some problems, but I think a resurgent Blues attack will be too much for them. The good times will continue to roll. 3-1 to Chelsea.

Andre Carlisle: Stoke are on a three-match winning streak with results over Newcastle, Aston Villa and Bournemouth. Prior to that they suffered three straight 3-0 defeats to Everton, Manchester United and Leicester. They clearly don’t cope well with any measure of quality. Though, for reasons that are still incredibly confusing, they have the always dangerous Xherdan Shaqiri and the just-added Giannelli Imbula. Still, the man I’m most concerned with is Charlie Adam (even if he’s unavailable). When he’s not scoring 50-yard goals against Thibaut Courtois he’s hacking down our players. Still, the Blues’ form and quality should be enough for a 2-0.

More from The Pride of London

• Bournemouth 0-0 Chelsea player ratings: Abysmal, reckless, wasteful
• Bournemouth 0-0 Chelsea: 3 Blues talking points
• Bournemouth vs Chelsea: 1 Blue Mauricio Pochettino should drop
• Bournemouth vs Chelsea: 3 Blues who must start
• Predicted Chelsea lineup vs Bournemouth: Palmer starts in 4-2-3-1

Anoop Ramakrishnan: This season being what it is, the fact that we’re not playing on a cold night in Stoke and the fact that our recent fortunes have been on the upswing give me hope that we should be able to see them off for good.

I go with a 2-0 or 3-1 win for us, with Diego Costa continuing to make his mark on the score sheet. And the icing on the cake would be losses for those just above us in the table.

Khaled Abdallah: Chelsea 1 – Stoke 2. I think Guus Hiddink rotates the squad in anticipation for the return leg against PSG on Wednesday and it backfires with a loss against the Potters. The Blues have been on a good run in the Premier League but it comes to an end with the players and manager having an eye on a season-defining match in the Champions League.

Ben Croft: Chelsea have a good record against Stoke at Stamford Bridge. They’ve not won a league game here for 42 years so the odds are stacked against them. But they’re on form as are we. I can see both teams scoring and with one mind on PSG we could see some players rested. Nevertheless, I’m going for us to win 2-1. Up the blues!

Devesh Rasgotra: Chelsea are on a run of three straight Premier League wins but so are Stoke City. With one eye on Wednesday night’s clash against Paris Saint Germain, I expect the two sides to battle to a 1-1 draw.

As for me? This is a tough one to call, so I’ll continue to sit on the fence and predict a 1-1 draw. A decent point for Mark Hughes and a result that the Blues probably won’t care too much about.

Next: Chelsea FC Host Stoke City: Team News, Prediction, Stats

I’ve finally got our little table up to speed, so check it out below! There are five points on offer for a correct result, while a consolation of two points for the right result. Yours truly is currently leading the way (woo).

Be sure to leave us your predictions in the comments section too!