Chelsea
take on mid-table Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday afternoon
seeking to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League.
However, the Blues will need to improve on a poor recent run on the road
that has seen them win just one of their last five away games.
The Swans, though, have also been struggling for form themselves of late,
with Garry Monk’s men without a victory in their previous three league
outings, a run of results that has seen them slip to ninth in the standings.
And with the south Wales outfit having not beaten the visitors in any of
their last seven top-flight meetings either, Jose Mourinho will be expecting
nothing less than all three points in the principality against opponents
missing departed top scorer Wilfried Bony.
Team news
Following the departure of Bony, Bafetimbi Gomis is likely to keep his place
in attack having deputised for the Swans top scorer last weekend when Bony
was away with the Ivory Coast, while both Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jefferson
Montero are expected to feature having recovered from injury.
However, the home team will be without midfielder Jonjo Shelvey through
suspension and playmaker Ki Sung-yueng, with the South Korea international
away with his country at the Asia Cup.
The west London club should stick with back-up goalkeeper Petr Cech, with
No. 1 Thibaut Courtois still to fully recover from the broken thumb that
kept the Belgian out of last Saturday’s win against Newcastle United.
Meanwhile, full-back Cesar Azpilicueta also misses out with a groin problem.
Opta stats
The two goals netted by the Swans in the reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge
ended a run of four games in all competitions where they failed to net
against the Blues.
Chelsea have won five and lost none of the seven Premier League meetings
with Swansea City.
Mourinho’s side have won just one of their last five Premier League away
games (W1 D2 L2).
Swansea have dropped more points from winning positions than any other team
in the Premier League (16).
Cesc Fabregas has more Premier League assists this season (14) than any
player managed last term (Steven Gerrard 13).
Only one team (Sunderland) has stopped Chelsea from scoring in the Premier
League this season.
Chelsea have seen six opposition players red carded this season, more than
any other team.
Swansea are one of two teams who have not had an opposition player sent off
against them so far (along with Newcastle).
Swansea’s woodwork has been struck 14 times this season, more than any other
club.
Chelsea have hit the target with 50.4% of their attempts, the best shooting
accuracy in the Premier League.
Merson’s prediction
I think Chelsea were lucky against Newcastle last week. They will definitely
be challenging for the league until the end. They're a good team.
I didn't think they could play that poorly, and Newcastle may not play
better than that first half. But at the break, it was still 1-0 to Chelsea.
I like Gomis and he scored last week but he has to score as much as Bony and
consistently, not just every other week. They will miss him now his move to
Manchester City is confirmed.
PAUL PREDICTS: 1-2
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