Chelsea vs Stoke - Live On ITV 1

Updated: Line-ups are announced as follows; Chelsea 23 Schwarzer 02 Ivanovic 03 Cole 21 Matic 24 Cahill 04 David Luiz 17 Hazard 08 Lampard 29 Eto'o 11 Oscar 14 Schürrle Substitutes 01 Cech 07 Ramires 12 Mikel 19 Ba 22 Willian 26 Terry 28 Azpilicueta Stoke City 01 Begovic 20 Cameron 12 Wilson 15 N'Zonzi 17 Shawcross 03 Pieters 19 Walters 08 Palacios 25 Crouch 32 Ireland 10 Arnautovic Substitutes 05 Muniesa 06 Whelan 16 Adam 23 Guidetti 24 Assaidi 29 Sørensen 30 Shotton Demba Ba has a chance to show he is not the latest forgotten man a Chelsea as Stoke visit Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon. With Fernando Torres injured and Samuel Eto'o likely to be rested, Ba should start. New signing Mohammed Salah will not play, while Juan Mata will not feature for a final time before his move to Manchester United is confirmed. Asmir Begovic could return from a broken finger in the Stoke goal in place of Jack Butland, while new loan striker John Guidetti (illness) could join Robert Huth (knee) and Andy Wilkinson (heel) on the sidelines. Both teams have important Premier League games in midweek so changes will be expected. Stoke will hope the FA cup offers some respite from their Premier League struggles, where they find themselves only four points off bottom. Mark Hughes and his men have only picked up five points on the road all season, but the cup brings different pressures and expectations. The new manager has tried to alter the Potters' style and while Stoke have been easier on the eye the results are yet to come. Hughes will know Stamford Bridge well, having played for the Blues for three years, winning the FA Cup and Cup Winners Cup in his time. However, that record pales into insignificance when compared to Jose Mourinho's record at Chelsea. The Portuguese manager will want to crown his return to West London with trophies and some may say it is inevitable he will. Chelsea sit only two points off the top in the Premier League and face Galatasary in the last 16 in the Champions League. Despite this, the Blues have slipped under the radar somewhat yet are on a six game winning streak. In fact their last two defeats were rather underwhelming €“ at Sunderland in the League Cup, and at Stoke at the start of December. At the Bridge their record is near imperious, with only a defeat at the hands of Basel in September as the only blemish. That they signed one of the Basel goal scorers shows how impressive the Swiss were that night. Chelsea will be strong favourites but Stoke will be no pushovers, and if the game is not exciting the touchline might be with the volatile Mourinho and Hughes set to go toe to toe. Likely starting line-ups: Chelsea Stoke Schwarzer Begovic Ivanovic Cameron Terry Shawcross Cahill Muniesa Cole Pieters Matic Palacios Ramires Whelan Schurrle Shotton Oscar Walters Hazard Ireland Ba Arnautovic
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Reporting on football and sports at large since 2007. Written for Channel 5, BT, the PFA, the Football Ramble amongst many, many others.