Manchester City’s convincing victory over Crystal Palace on Saturday propelled them to level on points with Chelsea at the top of the Premier League, and while Jose Mourinho’s men have Monday’s match against Stoke City in hand, they’ll want to secure Christmas No. 1 with a victory.

The Blues travel to the Britannia Stadium in high spirits after three wins on the bounce, but Stoke are no strangers to pulling off a surprise result on their own patch, summed up by their recent 3-2 victory over Arsenal.

It’s difficult to see Chelsea slipping up in similar fashion, sure, but with City breathing down their necks and the Potters out to ruin Mourinho’s Christmas, the pressure is well and truly on.

 

Date: Monday, December 22

Time: 8 p.m. GMT/3 p.m. ET

Venue: Britannia Stadium, Stoke

Live Stream: Sky Go (U.K. only)/NBC Sports Live Extra (U.S. only)

TV Info: Sky Sports 1 (U.K. only)/NBC Sports Live Extra (U.S. only)

 

Chelsea Looking to Top the Charts at Christmas

While Chelsea have the advantage in the table after Weekend 17 of the Premier League, defeat by two or more goals will see Manchester City steal top spot before the busy Christmas and New Year schedule begins.

That much seems absolutely impossible with the way that Mourinho’s side have been conducting themselves this season, but let’s just cast our minds back 12 months…

Back in December 2013, Chelsea visited the Britannia Stadium once again off the back of three consecutive victories and were humbled by the Potters in a 3-2 defeat.

Oussama Assaidi scored a 90th-minute winner on that occasion, but you get the sense that the Blues are far more prepared for the trip to Staffordshire than they were last year.

Fielding a second-string side in the 3-1 Capital One Cup quarter-final victory over Derby County means that the majority of Mourinho’s first-choice 11 are fit, although the game may come too soon for goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

Petr Cech will deputise for the Belgian if he doesn’t pass a fitness test, while frontman Diego Costa will return to the side chasing his 13th league goal of the season.

Stoke, meanwhile, will be sweating on the fitness of their key man Bojan, who hobbled off in the Potters’ recent 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

The Spaniard has been at the heart of everything positive for Stoke going forward this season, particularly against Arsenal, where radio presenter Adrian Durham felt that Stoke put together a superb team performance:

Bojan was a player with a great deal of potential during his time with Barcelona, and it was in those days where he gave the Chelsea boss a bit of a scare.

The 24-year-old scored what would have been a late winner for the Spanish side against Mourinho’s Inter Milan in the Champions League semi-final in 2010, but it was ruled out for offside—leading the Portuguese manager to joke that he almost had a heart attack, via ESPN’s Miguel Delaney:

Bojan will look to cause more drama for Mourinho once again, yet with a much more positive outcome this time around.

However, with Chelsea’s defence looking solid and the manger’s system working perfectly, it’s going to take something special for Bojan or anyone to breach the Blues’ back line.

Chelsea thoroughly deserve to lead the Premier League pack at Christmas, it’s just a case of staying there as the season goes on, and that much will be defined by avoiding potential banana skins like Monday’s trip to Stoke.

Prediction: Stoke City 1-3 Chelsea

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