Sunderland-Chelsea: Preview

Sunderland vs. Chelsea

Sunday, May 24 2009, Stadium of Light

Kickoff: 16:00

Sunderland

Sunderland lost 3-1 on the road to Portsmouth in their last match, the Black Cats' fourth straight match without a win.

In their last five, Sunderland have won one, drawn one, and lost three, earning four points from the available 15. Sunderland are currently 16th in the league with 36 points; however, they could still be relegated if both Hull and Newcastle win, and Sunderland lose.

Sunderland will be without Craig Gordon, David Connolly, Russell Anderson, and Nyron Nosworthy for this match.

Chelsea

Chelsea beat Blackburn Rovers 2-0 in their last match, the Blues' fourth straight win and sixth win in seven matches.

In their last five, Chelsea have won four and drew one, earning 13 points from the 15 available. The Blues are third in the league, three points behind second placed Liverpool and eleven points ahead of fourth placed Arsenal.

Chelsea will be without Deco, Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira and Joe Cole for this match.

Prediction

This season's Chelsea vs Sunderland fixture saw the Blues thrash the Black Cats 5-0.

Chelsea will likely be more concerned about their upcoming FA Cup Final against Everton than this match, but Sunderland will be doing all they can to grab at least a point from this fixture to guarantee their Premier League survival.

Chelsea have been in fine form lately whilst Sunderland have been struggling, and so the Blues will enter this away fixture as favourites for the win.

But if Guus Hiddink rests key players in preparation for next weekend's FA Cup clash, Sunderland could grab a draw if they can find a vast improvement from their recent form.

Read the complete preview with the best betting odds at the Sunderland vs Chelsea odds and preview page now!

Then read our other weekend football previews: Hull vs Man Utd, Liverpool vs Tottenham and Arsenal vs Stoke.