Hard on the heels of our fine 3-1 win over Southampton, on Sunday, we`re back in Premier League action when we visit Sunderland this Wednesday evening. Jose Mourinho will be keen for his troops to take all three points but Sunderland, under guidance of the former Chelsea player, Gus Poyet, will be keen to harvest further points in their battle to escape the relegation zone. Who`ll emerge triumphant? That is a question that will be answered on Wednesday evening.
Vital Quotes:
Title talk, since our wins over West Ham and Southampton has crept into the conversation. In his pre-match press conference, Jose Mourinho has spoken about a title winning mentality, remarking,
“We have some players here who have won the title before but they don’t win it for quite a long time and when that happens you forget it.”
‘We have other people that were playing in clubs not used to fighting for titles.”
‘This culture of being comfortable with the pressure of trying to be top of the league, fighting until the last moment and knowing that every point can make a difference – this is something you need to learn how to live with.”
‘It is a process. It is not something you do with a click. I want them to feel like I feel. In my career I only finish first or second and if I am not there I am not comfortable.’
Some interesting comments there I`d suggest.
Sunderland Team News:
Gus Poyet, who has already intimated that he can`t wait for the January transfer window to come around to strengthen his squad; goes into this fixture without two key players in Kieren Westwood and Carlos Cuellar, the former has a shoulder problem whilst the latter has a hip problem. But, on the positive side, Poyet should be able to welcome back John O`Shea, the club captain, after he suffered a muscle problem in their last fixture, against Sunderland.
Player to watch: Fabio Borini
The former Chelsea youngster has expressed a wish to cut short his loan move, from Liverpool, but if he gets the chance to play he`ll relish putting one over on his old employer.
Chelsea Team News:
Ahead of the fixture Jose Mourinho has informed the media that our young Brazilian maestro Oscar, having picked up an ankle knock against Southampton will not feature. However, a broad hint was given that Samuel Eto`o, injured in our defeat in Basel, is back in training and could feature.
As for other injury victims, Marco van Ginkel is absent for the season with a knee problem whilst David Luiz, as Jose kindly put it, is still in the hands of the medical department.
As for a starting eleven I`d go for – Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Ramires, Lampard, Mata, Hazard, Torres, Schurrle
Player to watch: Juan Mata
Having forced his way back into the side, Chelsea supporters will be hoping that, in Oscar`s absence, he can continue to impress Jose Mourinho.
Match Facts & Stats
Looking through the record books, the following statistics jump out at you:-
1 – Chelsea have a good record against Sunderland winning 16 of the last 17 encounters. Sunderland last won, against Chelsea, on 14th November 2010 when they beat us 3-0 at Stamford Bridge.
2 – It`s 13 years since Sunderland got anything out of a home game against Chelsea when they won 1-0 on 14th October 2000.
3 – Since Gus Poyet took over, Sunderland`s fortunes have taken a turn for the better, if they win against us it will be three successive home wins for the Black Cats.
4 – Sunderland have scored 12 goals in their last 14 home games.
5 – Chelsea are looking for their first back-to-back away league wins for the first time since Mourinho returned to the club.
6 – Chelsea have scored 24 goals this season, in the Premier League, but only 7 of those have come away from home.
Ref Watch:
Our match officials are:-
Referee – P. Dowd
Assistants – M. Perry, D. Bryan
Fourth Official – S. Atwell
Match Prediction:
The Stadium of Light will be a hostile environment on Wednesday evening, the appointment of Gus Poyet in place Paulo Di Canio, has rejuvenated the club and the home support will be vociferous. If Chelsea turn in the kind of performances we did against FC Basel and Newcastle, we`ll get beat, but if we enter this one in the right frame of mind, we`ll do just fine!
Next Fixtures:
We continue our run of fixtures against teams that start with ‘S` when we travel to Stoke City this weekend. (Southampton, Sunderland, Stoke, Steau Bucharest!)