Sunderland vs. Chelsea: Team News, Live Stream, TV Info, Ticket News
From deciding the Premier League title race on Monday, this weekend Chelsea will play a big part in a scrap of a different kind at the bottom of the table.
Guus Hiddink's side travel to the Stadium of Light where they will face Sunderland, who currently sit in the relegation zone.
Newcastle United and Norwich City will be hoping Chelsea can do them a similar favour to what they did for Leicester City on Monday. By drawing 2-2 with Tottenham Hotspur, the Blues ensured Leicester would win the title this season.
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And now their result on Saturday will play a big part in helping decide who avoids the drop into the Championship.
"It’s important for ourselves, for our pride and for our enjoyment of football [that Chelsea put in another good performance this weekend]," Hiddink told reporters on Friday.
"Second, we want to have the same approach for all the teams who are still fighting to avoid relegation. They deserve the same approach in our seriousness, with no guarantee that we can win, but we will go for the win, of course.
"Given the situation, it wouldn’t be fair of us to have a serious approach for the Spurs game and not have a serious approach for the other games. [...] Before, I made some changes with Academy players, but it would not be fair to do it again to the other teams we are approaching in the last games."
It means we can expect this outing to be anything other than a dead-rubber from Chelsea's perspective. Sunderland will be relishing a home tie, regardless of the opposition, but they will face a strong test against a Chelsea side that has hinted at a late-season renaissance.
Prior to their draw with Spurs, Chelsea thrashed Bournemouth 4-1, playing some of their best football all season.
"We will give [Sunderland] as much resistance as we have," Hiddink added. "They are now in the relegation zone, which makes it not easy. They have a very experienced manager who will fine-tune the team in the right way, I think."
Match Details
Date: Saturday, 7 May
Time: 3 p.m. BST/10 a.m. ET
Venue: Stadium of Light, Sunderland
TV Info: Match of the Day, BBC1, 10.30pm (UK only)/NBC Sports (U.S. only)
Live Stream: No live UK stream/NBCSN (U.S. only)
Last 5 Games
| April 2 | Sunderland 0-0 West Bromwich Albion |
| April 10 | Sunderland 0-2 Leicester City |
| April 16 | Norwich City 0-3 Sunderland |
| April 24 | Sunderland 0-0 Arsenal |
| April 30 | Stoke City 1-1 Sunderland |
| April 2 | Aston Villa 0-4 Chelsea |
| April 9 | Swansea City 1-0 Chelsea |
| April 16 | Chelsea 0-3 Manchester City |
| April 23 | Bournemouth 1-4 Chelsea |
| May 2 | Chelsea 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur |
Predicted Lineups
Hiddink has a fully fit squad to choose from on Saturday, with the exception of Loic Remy and Kurt Zouma, who remain sidelined.
Thibaut Courtois is available again after serving his two-game suspension.
As for Sunderland, Sam Allardyce has a similarly fit squad, with just Billy Jones a doubt.
Sunderland (4-1-4-1): Mannone; Yedlin, Kone, Kaboul, Van Aanholt; Kirchoff; Borini, M'Vila, Cattermole, Kazri; Defoe
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Begovic; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Mikel, Fabregas; Willian, Loftus-Cheek, Hazard; Costa
Key Players
Jermain Defoe
The striker has 17 goals in all competitions for Sunderland this season—a staggering return for a player in a side that has struggled from the beginning of the campaign.
Four of those goals have come in the last seven matches, too. Defoe's goals since the beginning of March have secured three draws, while he was also on the scoresheet in a 3-0 win over fellow relegation strugglers Norwich City.
Last weekend his 90th-minute penalty against Stoke City rescued a valuable point.
The Englishman may be in the twilight of his career, but at 33, he remains a massive threat. He's the biggest asset this Sunderland side has when it comes to goalscoring, and if the Black Cats take anything from this game, the safe bet is that Defoe will play some part in it all.
It was an Eden Hazard masterclass that got Chelsea into the game against Spurs on Monday. For all the talent on display in both sides, it was his introduction in the second half that swung the balance of the game.
Hazard was mesmerising, getting at the Spurs defenders in the way that has earned him his reputation. He was dogged, always demanding possession before carving out opportunities for himself or team-mates.
His finish to make it 2-2 and complete Chelsea's comeback—securing the Premier League title for Leicester City in the process—was sublime and summed up everything he is capable of.
That display came on the back of Hazard bagging a brace against Bournemouth a week earlier. The season may be winding down, but Hazard has the look of a man who is going out with a bang.
Ticket Information
For ticket information on all Premier League games, visit the official site or go to the ticket page on Sunderland's official website.
Prediction
Sunderland 1-1 Chelsea
Odds
Home Win: +290
Away Win: -112
Draw: +251
First Goalscorer: Jermain Defoe (11/2)
Odds via Odds Shark and Oddschecker
Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes
