EPL: Chelsea vs. Sunderland Preview
After a disappointing 2-0 loss to Liverpool at Anfield, the Blues returned to winning ways and maintained their impressive home record with a 1-0 win over Fulham. Michael Essien marked his return by scoring the winning goal, but received
a red card in the 93rd minute to make the victory a bitter sweet affair for manager Carlo Ancelotti.
Ancelotti was pleased with the result, especially since Manchester United and Manchester City both drew in the midweek fixtures. The Italian manager was struggling with the squad selection since so many players have been made unavailable
because of injuries. Frank Lampard, Alex and Nicolas Anelka were just a few big names who were sidelined with injuries during midweek.
Sunderland have not managed an away win since April, and the last time they won in London was in August 2008. Clearly Steve Bruce’s side have a poor away record which will most likely get worse as they travel to Stamford Bridge today.
In their ten visits to London, Sunderland have scored three goals and conceded 21, losing seven of those fixtures.
Last season the Blues beat Sunderland 7-2, with Nicolas Anelka and Frank Lampard scoring twice each. The Black Cats have lost their last six visits to Stamford Bridge, conceding 23 goals in the process and scoring only two. Their chances
don’t look too good today as their top scorer Darren Bent is out for two weeks; John Mensah, Anton Ferdinand and David Meyler are also sidelined because of injury.
Michael Turner, the Black Cats defender was pleased with his side’s progress, he told reporters, “We took a bit of pressure off ourselves by beating Stoke at the weekend. We were able to go to Tottenham with a bit
of confidence and it's nice to go into another tough game at the weekend with another point under our belts.”
The Sunderland defender was well aware of the tough challenge ahead, he added, “Chelsea are obviously one of the best teams in the league and we'll have to play like we did in the second half against Tottenham if
we're going to get anything from the game. They've got great players all over the pitch and we have to be on our guard.”
Possible Starting XI
Chelsea (Probable, 4-3-3): Cech; Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole; Lampard, Mikel, Zhirkov; Kalou, Anelka, Malouda.
Sunderland (Probable, 4-4-1-1): Gordon; Onuoha, Turner, Bramble, Richardson; Elmohamady, Henderson, Cattermole, Welbeck; Malbranque; Gyan.
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