FA Cup | Sunday January 26 | Stamford Bridge | 17:30
The return of the FA Cup sees Chelsea meet fellow Premier League side Stoke City in the fourth round at Stamford Bridge.
This is the only all Premier League fixture in the round of 32.
Chelsea are fresh from a morale and points-boosting win over the champions Manchester United, while Stoke came up blank against basement-dwelling Crystal Palace.
The Blues lie in third, just two points off the pace at the top of the Barclays Premier League. Stoke however, are perilously close to the relegation zone.
To Win (90mins)
Chelsea 3/10
Draw 42/10
Stoke 83/10
CHELSEA
Jose Mourinho celebrated his 100th Premier League win in charge of Chelsea on Sunday in style, as his swaggering side ruthlessly dispatched Manchester United 3-1 at Stamford Bridge.
Mourinho, who reached the milestone after just 142 games, became the fastest manager in Premier League history to reach a ton of wins and his Chelsea side is hitting peak form at just the right time.
The Blues will now turn their attention to Sunday afternoon’s FA Cup fourth round tie against Stoke City.
Chelsea have enjoyed a great amount of success in the FA Cup since the mid-’90s and Jose Mourinho holds the competition close to his heart.
Following Chelsea’s impressive victory over Manchester United, Jose Mourinho will be tempted to rotate his squad but the club’s love affair with the FA Cup in recent years ensures he won’t treat the competition as a distraction.
The Blues look set to lose Juan Mata, the Chelsea Player of the Year for the past two seasons has struggled to fit into Mourinho’s plans and is almost certain to join Manchester United this weekend.
Oscar will likely retain his place in the number ten role and should be joined in the midfield attacking trio by Andre Schurrle and the in-form Willian.
Nemanja Matic will be raring to go and could make his full debut this weekend following his big money move from Benfica for a fee of £20.75m.
Chelsea will be without Fernando Torres who is expected to be sidelined until the end of the month.
Mourniho will call upon Samuel Eto’o who produced his best performance in a Blues shirt against the Red Devils scoring a superb hat-trick.
Mark Schwarzer started the FA Cup third round win against Derby (2-0) and is likely to replace Petr Cech between the sticks.
STOKE
Stoke will be relieved to get away from Premier League action this weekend after their disappointing 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
Stoke did everything they could to grab a point at the death, to the point of throwing Ryan Shawcross forward in hope that the defender would somehow knock one in.
Charlie Adam forced a save in added time, but that was as close as the Potters could come.
Stoke have now gone five league matches without tasting victory, and will now face an uphill battle against a Chelsea side who remain unbeaten at home.
The Potters beat Leicester City 2-1 at home to reach the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Stoke`s previous meeting with Chelsea in the F.A. Cup at Stamford Bridge was in the Blues’ favour as the Potters lost 2-0 in the quarter-final fixture in 2010.
Stoke became a solid Premier League club under Tony Pulis’ guidance, finishing consistently in mid-table over the course of five years. The Welshman was the first manager to lead the club to an FA Cup final, and also had the side playing in European football.
Mark Hughes is an experienced manager but he has his work cut out to salvage Stoke’s season and he will look to silence his critics if he can upset Mourinho’s men.
Adam will be the man to watch as he certainly knows where the goal is and likes a tackle as well, so the Blues midfield will need to track his box-to-box capabilities.
Peter Crouch, linked with a move to Palace, looks set to lead the line alongside new Manchester City loan star John Guidetti.
Striker Kenwyne Jones will return to the squad after being disciplined by the club for refusing to play against Liverpool two weeks ago.
Despite Stoke having conceded 15 goals in their last five Premier League outings, Hughes is not likely to make many alterations in defence as Robert Huth and Andy Wilkinson are still sidelined with knee and foot problems respectively.
Goalkeeper Jack Butland should retain his place ahead of the experienced Thomas Sorensen as first choice Asmir Begovic is still sideline with injury.
Betting Prediction: CHELSEA Handicap( -1) 13/20
Chelsea’s strength in depth means there is no chance of them starting with a weak line-up. Stoke are heavily reliant on their home form as they have the worst away record in the Premier League. There’s not much value in the Chelsea win at 3/10 so we recommend taking Chelsea on the handicap at 13/20.
Written by Chadley Nagel for @Hollywoodbets. Follow them both on Twitter and Facebook now!
Bet on this match now at Hollywoodbets.net! Haven’t got an account? Open one here now!