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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Chelsea v Stoke City: Premier League – live! | Chelsea v Stoke City: Premier League – live! |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 5.50pm BST17:50 | |
| 18 min: Chelsea win a corner, which Willian sends into the penalty area. Asmir Begovic comes out to pluck the ball from the sky under pressure and wins a free-kick for infringement. | |
| 5.49pm BST17:49 | |
| 17 min: Loic Remy tries his luck from about 20 yards, but drags his low shot well wide. | |
| 5.48pm BST17:48 | |
| 16 min: The lively looking Hazard fires in a cross, which Stoke clear. The Potters advance down the pitch on a rare sortie and get the ball into the Chelsea penalty area, but Stephen Ireland’s weak header doesn’t trouble Thibaut Courtois. | |
| 5.46pm BST17:46 | |
| 15 min: Oscar picks out Loic Remy in the penalty area with a splendid pass, but the Frenchman’s low diagonal drive towards the near post is saved comfortably by Asmir Begovic. | |
| 5.45pm BST17:45 | |
| 13 min: Steven N’Zonzi cedes possession to Cesc Fabregas on the edge of the final third and the Spaniard begins an attack that ends with Loic Remy being presented with a decent chance to breach a noticeably jittery Stoke defence. Nothing comes of it. | |
| 5.43pm BST17:43 | |
| 12 min: Eden Hazard picks up the ball and scampers across the face of the Stoke penalty area before unleashing a fizzing shot that sails high and wide of the Stoke goal. Possession stats: Chelsea 76%-24% Stoke City. | |
| 5.42pm BST17:42 | |
| 10 min: A Cesar Azpilicueta overlap down the right gives Oscar a bit of space on the ball outside the Stoke penalty area and the crowd urges him to shoot. He duly obliges, but fires his surface to air screamer straight into the face of - I think - Shawcross. Ouch. | |
| 5.40pm BST17:40 | |
| 9 min: A long cross-field ball sails out of play despite the best attempts of Marc Wilson to keep it in play and Chelsea win a throw-in deep in their own half. Cahill builds from the back, picking out Ivanovic on the right flank. | |
| 5.39pm BST17:39 | |
| 8 min: Chelsea win a corner off Geoff Cameron, from which nothing comes. Moments later, Loic Remy tries his luck from distance, but sends the ball wide. | |
| 5.37pm BST17:37 | |
| 6 min: OK, slightly similar. Chelsea are firmly in control in these early stages, although some of their passing in midfield has been a bit sloppy. | |
| 5.36pm BST17:36 | |
| 5 min: Apologies, it was Loic Remy who took that shot, not Willian. You can probably understand how I got the pair mixed up, as they look very similar. | |
| 5.34pm BST17:34 | |
| 2 min: In the Stoke goal, Asmir Begovic performs heroics to keep out a Willian shot from just inside the area that took a wicked deflection. The goalkeeper was forced to contort his body and stretch out his right arm to keep the ball out, after Willian had been picked out by Gary Cahill, whose cross was excellent. | |
| Updated at 5.49pm BST | |
| 5.32pm BST17:32 | |
| 1 min: Stoke have lined up in a 4-4-2, with Mame Biram Diouf tucked in a little behind Jon Walters, who looks resplendent in a transparent protective face mask. | |
| 5.31pm BST17:31 | |
| Chelsea v Stoke is under way ... | |
| Chelsea kick-off, playing from left to right in every sense of the word. Their defenders ping the ball over and back across the pitch before hoofing it into Stoke’s half. The visitors go forward and Thibaut Courtois gets an early touch. | |
| 5.27pm BST17:27 | |
| Not long now: Led by their respective skippers John Terry and Ryan Shawcross, Chelsea and Stoke make their way out on to the Stamford Bridge sward. Referee Jonathan Moss removes the ball from the ceremonial plinth and the pre-match formalities get under way. Prediction time: I need a Chelsea win to bring home my Saturday afternoon treble, so I’m plumping for a 1-1 draw. | |
| Updated at 5.42pm BST | |
| 5.25pm BST17:25 | |
| An email from Lou Roper: “So, according to the Mark Hughes vision of reality, pressure-free Stoke (sitting comfortably in mid-table) could make it nine points out of 105 (as uncovered by intrepid MBM coverage) in their travels to the top sides tonight,” he says. “Or will nothing-to-play-for mid-table Stoke undergo a tonking? No prizes for favouring the latter turn of events, if I may suggest to Mr Hughes.” | |
| 5.17pm BST17:17 | |
| Mark Hughes speaks: “We’ve been here in recent times and not really acquitted ourselves very well,” says the Stoke manager. “There’s a little bit of pressure on Chelsea as they try to win the Premier League and we’ll try to capitalise on that. We’ve had a couple of bad results but we played well [in defeat] against Crystal Palace last time out. We’ll try to give them some problems. You need to get a foothold in the game and get some control, but it’s difficult when you’re up against such a good side.” | |
| 5.12pm BST17:12 | 5.12pm BST17:12 |
| An interesting stat from Sky: For any Arsenal fans hoping Stoke might do them a favour, this will make for grim reading. Stoke’s form away from home against teams in the top five of the Premier League is atrocious. Out of the last 102 points available on the road against sides currently occupying the top five spots, they’ve won just six. Six! | An interesting stat from Sky: For any Arsenal fans hoping Stoke might do them a favour, this will make for grim reading. Stoke’s form away from home against teams in the top five of the Premier League is atrocious. Out of the last 102 points available on the road against sides currently occupying the top five spots, they’ve won just six. Six! |
| 5.04pm BST17:04 | 5.04pm BST17:04 |
| 5.03pm BST17:03 | 5.03pm BST17:03 |
| Jose Mourinho speaks ... | Jose Mourinho speaks ... |
| The Chelsea manager uses his pre-match interview to suggest that while Diego Costa is physically fit, he suspects the player might not be mentally right for this evening’s match, as a result of stressing over his taut hamstrings. Hence he takes a place on the bench this evening, where he can be used as back-up if required. | The Chelsea manager uses his pre-match interview to suggest that while Diego Costa is physically fit, he suspects the player might not be mentally right for this evening’s match, as a result of stressing over his taut hamstrings. Hence he takes a place on the bench this evening, where he can be used as back-up if required. |
| 4.50pm BST16:50 | 4.50pm BST16:50 |
| 4.49pm BST16:49 | 4.49pm BST16:49 |
| 4.40pm BST16:40 | 4.40pm BST16:40 |
| Chelsea v Stoke City line-ups | Chelsea v Stoke City line-ups |
| Chelsea: Courtois, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Fabregas, Matic, Willian, Oscar, Hazard, Remy. | Chelsea: Courtois, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Fabregas, Matic, Willian, Oscar, Hazard, Remy. |
| Subs: Cech, Luis, Zouma, Ramires, Drogba, Costa, Cuadrado. | Subs: Cech, Luis, Zouma, Ramires, Drogba, Costa, Cuadrado. |
| Stoke: Begovic, Cameron, Shawcross, Wilson, Wollscheid, Adam, Nzonzi, Whelan, Ireland, Walters, Diouf. | Stoke: Begovic, Cameron, Shawcross, Wilson, Wollscheid, Adam, Nzonzi, Whelan, Ireland, Walters, Diouf. |
| Subs: Bardsley, Pieters, Muniesa, Arnautovic, Sidwell, Butland, Crouch. | Subs: Bardsley, Pieters, Muniesa, Arnautovic, Sidwell, Butland, Crouch. |
| Referee: Jonathan Moss (W Yorkshire) | Referee: Jonathan Moss (W Yorkshire) |
| 4.29pm BST16:29 | 4.29pm BST16:29 |
| Don’t get too excited. This is pretty much what you’d expect. | Don’t get too excited. This is pretty much what you’d expect. |
| An early look around Stamford Bridge on matchday... #CFC https://t.co/yZiYpHEEJj | An early look around Stamford Bridge on matchday... #CFC https://t.co/yZiYpHEEJj |
| Updated at 4.29pm BST | Updated at 4.29pm BST |
| 4.15pm BST16:15 | 4.15pm BST16:15 |
| Happy Easter one and all. The Premier League leaders entertain Stoke City at Stamford Bridge, with Chelsea hoping to extend their lead at the summit to seven points over Arsenal, who thrashed Liverpool at the Emirates earlier today. The only team in England who are unbeaten at home in the league this season, Chelsea are hot favourites to see off a side with little to play for apart from the scramble to avoid qualification for the Europa League. | Happy Easter one and all. The Premier League leaders entertain Stoke City at Stamford Bridge, with Chelsea hoping to extend their lead at the summit to seven points over Arsenal, who thrashed Liverpool at the Emirates earlier today. The only team in England who are unbeaten at home in the league this season, Chelsea are hot favourites to see off a side with little to play for apart from the scramble to avoid qualification for the Europa League. |
| Stoke’s manager, Mark Hughes, has never won at Stamford Bridge as a manager and his team arrive on the back of defeats at the hands of West Brom and Crystal Palace. In their final match before the international break, Chelsea laboured to a 3-2 victory over Hull City. For the hosts, Diego Costa’s dicky hamstrings make him a doubt, while loanee Victor Moses will not be featuring for the Potters against his parent club. Kick-off is at 5.30pm (BST), but you ccan join us an hour or so before that for all the team news and build-up. | Stoke’s manager, Mark Hughes, has never won at Stamford Bridge as a manager and his team arrive on the back of defeats at the hands of West Brom and Crystal Palace. In their final match before the international break, Chelsea laboured to a 3-2 victory over Hull City. For the hosts, Diego Costa’s dicky hamstrings make him a doubt, while loanee Victor Moses will not be featuring for the Potters against his parent club. Kick-off is at 5.30pm (BST), but you ccan join us an hour or so before that for all the team news and build-up. |