{"id":360373,"date":"2011-04-01T11:28:21","date_gmt":"2011-04-01T11:28:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/04\/01\/stoke-city-v-chelsea\/"},"modified":"2011-04-01T11:28:21","modified_gmt":"2011-04-01T11:28:21","slug":"stoke-city-v-chelsea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/01\/stoke-city-v-chelsea\/","title":{"rendered":"Stoke City v Chelsea"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

<\/p>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Saturday, 2 April 2011<\/p>\n

Barclays Premier League<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Home Team<\/span><\/th>\nScore<\/span><\/th>\nAway Team<\/span><\/th>\nTime<\/span><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Stoke<\/td>\n v <\/td>\nChelsea<\/td>\n15:00<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n <\/td>\n<\/td>\n\n <\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Barclays Premier League<\/b>
Venue:<\/b> Britannia Stadium Date:<\/b> Saturday, 2 April Kick-off:<\/b> 1500 BST
Coverage:<\/b> Watch highlights on Match of the Day; listen on BBC Radio 5 live and local radio; text commentary on BBC Sport website and mobiles<\/span><\/p>\n

TEAM NEWS<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Stoke manager Tony Pulis will monitor the fitness of striker John Carew, who has been suffering with a back injury.<\/b><\/p>\n

Goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen has a similar problem, while Abdoulaye Faye is struggling with a hamstring strain. <\/p>\n

Chelsea will check on the fitness of Salomon Kalou, who picked up a knock on international duty with Ivory Coast. <\/p>\n

Yossi Benayoun made his comeback from a long-term Achilles injury in Israel’s win over Georgia in midweek but is unlikely to be risked here. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Stoke<\/b><\/p>\n

Doubtful<\/b>: Carew (back), Faye (hamstring), Sorensen (back) <\/p>\n

Injured<\/b>: Sidibe (Achilles) <\/p>\n

Chelsea<\/b><\/p>\n

Doubtful<\/b>: Alex (knee), Benayoun (Achilles), Kalou (unspecified) <\/p>\n

MATCH PREVIEW<\/b><\/p>\n

With nine games to go and a nine-point deficit in the title race, every game is now a must-win for the champions, starting with this tricky assignment at the Britannia Stadium, where Stoke are unbeaten in 2011.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t <\/p>\n\n\n
\"\"<\/td>\n\n
\n
\n

\t\t\tThe fact we are playing Chelsea does not give us fear. On our own turf we believe we can beat any team<\/b>
\n\t\t
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Stoke defender Robert Huth<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

Carlo Ancelotti’s side have forced their way back into the title reckoning with three consecutive victories in March, and with a 100% Premier League record against Saturday’s opponents, the Blues will arrive in Staffordshire in confident mood. <\/p>\n

The focus of attention will again be on Fernando Torres, who is still without a goal in Chelsea colours. The \u00a350m striker’s barren run now stands at 10 matches for club and country – failure to score here would be his longest goal drought since a 17-match streak for Atletico Madrid in 2005. <\/p>\n

Stoke can start to look above them in the table rather than over their shoulder following a priceless three points against Newcastle last time out. With their Premier League safety now all but assured, the Potters can turn their attention to achieving a first top-10 finish since 1975. <\/p>\n

MATCH FACTS<\/b><\/p>\n

Head-to-head<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2022 Chelsea have a 100% Premier League record against Stoke, winning all five previous encounters. They have won their last seven in all competitions. <\/p>\n

\u2022 Florent Malouda has scored in his last three Premier League games against Stoke. <\/p>\n

Stoke<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2022 The Potters have lost their last six away league games but are unbeaten at home in 2011. <\/p>\n

\u2022 They have failed to score in five of their last eight league outings. <\/p>\n

\u2022 If selected, Andy Wilkinson will be making his 100th league appearance for Stoke. <\/p>\n

\u2022 Stoke have scored 78% of their goals in the second half, the highest proportion in the top flight. <\/p>\n

Chelsea<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2022 In-form Chelsea have won six and lost just one of their last eight Premier League matches. <\/p>\n

\u2022 They have dropped just four points from winning positions – a record matched only by Stoke. <\/p>\n

\u2022 After a run of six Premier League games without a win away from home, Chelsea have now won three and lost none of their last four on the road. <\/p>\n

\u2022 According to Opta statistics, Didier Drogba has fired in 39 shots on target this season, more than any other player in the top flight – but none since Fernando Torres joined the club. <\/p>\n

LEADING GOALSCORERS<\/b><\/p>\n

Stoke<\/b><\/p>\n

Huth: 8 goals (6 league); Walters: 8 goals (4 league); Jones: 7 goals (5 league) <\/p>\n

Chelsea<\/b><\/p>\n

Anelka: 16 goals (6 league);
Drogba & Malouda: 10 goals (9 league);
Kalou: 10 goals (7 league) <\/p>\n

MATCH OFFICIALS<\/b><\/p>\n

Referee<\/b>: Peter Walton <\/p>\n

Assistant referees<\/b>: Adam Watts & Martin Yerby <\/p>\n

Fourth official<\/b>: Mark Clattenburg <\/p>\n

LAST LEAGUE MATCH LINE-UPS<\/b><\/p>\n

Stoke <\/b>(W4-0 v Newcastle, h): Begovic, Wilson, Shawcross, Huth, Higginbotham, Pennant (Whitehead 80), Delap, Whelan, Etherington (Pugh 60), Jones (Fuller 88), Walters. Subs not used: Sorensen, Collins, Diao, Wilkinson. <\/p>\n

Chelsea <\/b>(W2-0 v Man City, h): Cech, Ivanovic, Luiz, Terry, Cole, Ramires, Essien, Lampard, Kalou (Zhirkov 77), Torres (Drogba 70), Malouda (Anelka 70). Subs not used: Turnbull, Mikel, Bosingwa, Ferreira. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Follow this link:
\nStoke City v Chelsea<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen has a similar problem, while Abdoulaye Faye is struggling with a hamstring strain. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-360373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nStoke City v Chelsea - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/01\/stoke-city-v-chelsea\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Stoke City v Chelsea - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"\u00a0 Saturday, 2 April 2011 Barclays Premier League Home Team Score Away Team Time Stoke v Chelsea 15:00 Barclays Premier League Venue: Britannia Stadium Date: Saturday, 2 April Kick-off: 1500 BST Coverage: Watch highlights on Match of the Day; listen on BBC Radio 5 live and local radio; text commentary on BBC Sport website and mobiles TEAM NEWS Stoke manager Tony Pulis will monitor the fitness of striker John Carew, who has been suffering with a back injury. 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