Chelsea
play host to Swansea at Stamford Bridge in a battle of the top two in the
Premier League on Saturday.
Chelsea and Swansea are the only two sides yet to drop a point this season,
having won all three of their opening league games.
Something has to give at Stamford Bridge and Chelsea have won all three of
their previous Premier League home meetings with Swansea.
Travelling to Chelsea will hold no fear for Swansea with Garry Monk's side
having already won away at Old Trafford this term.
Swansea have not beaten Chelsea in a league game since 1981, but they did
win at Stamford Bridge in the Capital One Cup in January 2013.
Team news
Chelsea are sweating over the fitness of star striker Diego Costa ahead of
the clash with Swansea.
Costa, who has scored four goals in Chelsea's opening three Premier League
games, is struggling with a hamstring injury he picked up on international
duty with Spain.
If he misses out Loic Remy will be hoping to make his debut after arriving
from Queens Park Rangers or Didier Drogba could make his first start since
returning to Stamford Bridge
Eden Hazard faces a late fitness test after also withdrawing from
international duty with Belgium with an Achilles problem, otherwise Jose
Mourinho has no fresh injury worries to contend with.
Swansea striker Wilfried Bony will be checked before manager Monk finalises
his selection.
Bafetimbi Gomis stands by should Bony be rested to the bench and Marvin
Emnes could join the squad for the first time this season after hamstring
trouble but midfielder Leon Britton has been ruled out for at least four
more weeks with a knee injury.
Paul Merson's prediction
Swansea have been doing very well and this will be a hard game for Chelsea
because they have got pace to trouble them on the counter-attack. I thought
Chelsea were brilliant going forward in their last game against Everton, but
I couldn’t believe how open they were. Usually you see Chelsea teams
protecting the back four like a machine, but Jose Mourinho must have decided
he’s got the players to go another way and he wants to have a go. He’s never
had the forwards to score bundles of goals before, but now he thinks he can
outscore the opposition in every match. This will be a hard-fought home win.
PAUL PREDICTS: 2-0
Opta Stats
Diego Costa has scored four goals in three Premier League games; Fernando
Torres took 39 games to reach this figure for Chelsea.
Gylfi Sigurdsson has scored one and assisted four of Swansea’s six league
goals this season. He has assisted as many goals in three appearances this
term as he did in 58 for Tottenham overall in the Premier League.
This is only the second time in Premier League history that the top two
sides in the table have faced off as early as this in the campaign (MD4).
Then-leaders Chelsea beat second place Tottenham 2-0 in August 2005.
Bony was part of the Ivory Coast side which lost an Africa Cup of Nations
qualifier in Cameroon on Wednesday evening and Monk will consider the
effects of that long journey on the 25-year-old before deciding whether to
name an unchanged side for the fourth successive Barclays Premier League
game.
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