Stoke V Chelsea Preview: Blues Hope To Avoid Being Thrown Off Course By Delap

Saturday sees a return to league action for the Blues, with a trip to up to Stoke City. Ahead of the game, Alan McGuinness takes a look at the form of both teams, injuries, some quotes from both sides and then finishes off with a prediction.


Initial Thoughts and Points of Interest

On paper this should be an easy three points - but as has been proved in the past, football doesn’t always play out the way you expect it to.

Stoke have upset a number of teams so far this season, and possess a weapon that Chelsea will have to negate if they want to be heading back down to London with three points in the bag: Rory Delap and his throw-ins.

Everton will attest to the problems Delap’s long balls into the box can cause - both of Stoke’s goals in the recent 2-2 draw came as a result of the defender’s potent arms.

Chelsea no doubt have the height to deal with them, but they’ll have to be on their guard and avoid any lapses in concentration.


Team News

Stoke City: Ibrahima Sonko and Ricardo Fuller are expected to feature for Tony Pullis’ side, while Andrew Davies and Danny Pugh are set to miss out.

Chelsea: Carvalho, Deco and Essien still remain out for the Blues, so Ballack should take up a place in midfield alongside Frank Lampard and John Obi Mikel.

Joe Cole will miss out with what is a “minor injury” according to Chelsea.

Didier Drogba will now be approaching full fitness and will want to get back on the score sheet as soon as possible.

New signing Mineiro will miss out but should be ready to play in about 10 days, according to Scolari.

Stoke (from): Sorensen, Griffin, Cort, Sonko, Abdoulaye Faye, Higginbotham, Lawrence, Diao, Olofinjana, Delap, Kitson, Fuller, Sidibe, Cresswell, Simonsen, Whelan, Tonge, Wilkinson, Shawcross, Soares.

Chelsea (from): Cech, Ivanovic, A Cole, Lampard, Di Santo, Drogba, Mikel, Ballack, Malouda, Sinclair, Bosingwa, Bridge, Ferreira, Kalou, Cudicini, Terry, Alex, Belletti, Anelka, Hilario.


Recent Form

Stoke City: Stoke sit (as you might expect) in the relegation zone, but with a respectable enough total at this stage of 4 points.

The high points of their season so far have been the 3-2 win over Aston Villa at home and a 0-0 draw with Liverpool last weekend, which was achieved thanks to some very solid defending.

Chelsea: Wednesday’s 4-0 win over Portsmouth in the Carling Cup - a repeat of the scoreline when the two sides met on the opening day of the Premier League season - kept up Chelsea’s unbeaten home record and means that an unlikely Quadruple is still possible.


Quotes

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech is well aware that Chelsea’s rearguard will have to be top form tomorrow to repel the Rory Delap led onslaught.

“I have a plan for the game,” he confirmed. “I can't tell you exactly what this is but we will see if it works or not.

“We are well-prepared as a team for the long throw because we know about it and they scored decisive goals from it, so we need to make sure we control that, and we have a plan and we will try to make it work.

“Their biggest strength is from set plays, they have the big guys and they know about us. They are dangerous in this simple play and we need to be careful. Conceding a goal from set plays means it becomes more difficult.”

Meanwhile, Luiz Felipe Scolari admits that he is looking forward to the game and that he is learning new things in his role everyday.

“We know about Stoke City, and we have advice last week. They played Liverpool and drew at the home of Liverpool,” said Scolari.

“It's very good for a coach because every day we need to study the opponents and their characteristics. I learn every day about players, systems and clubs. For the coach it is very well to play this week against Manchester United, Portsmouth and Stoke. “

It is good for a coach and the players.”

Stoke manager Tony Pulis admits that his side have a tough task trying to get something from the game.

"As a manager you are always looking for chinks in the armour of your opponents, but Chelsea have all the answers to all the questions you could pose.

"The pace and power of their team is phenomenal and when you add technical ability in abundance, you know you face one hell of a task.

"They've got bags of goals from midfield, full-backs who bomb forward and cause problems, and also someone like Joe Cole who can drop off and open you up," Pulis added.


Prediction

Even if you do factor in Rory Delap, I just think Chelsea will have too much for Stoke going forward. Portsmouth have been hit for four twice, and so have Bordeaux, and the outcome could be similar at the Britannia Stadium if the likes of Anelka and Drogba have their shooting boots on.

3-0 Chelsea is my call.

What are your thoughts ahead of this weekend’s match? Let me know by leaving a comment below.

Squad listings courtesy of BBC Sport.