Congratulations to John Mikel Obi, who makes his 250th start for the Blues this evening… #CFC pic.twitter.com/h2mMmt3NPw
— Chelsea FC (@chelseafc) December 22, 2014
Here are the confirmed lineups:
Stoke City: Begovic; Bardsley, Shawcross (c), Muniesa, Pieters; Cameron, Nzonzi; Walters, Bojan, Arnautovic; Crouch
Subs: Butland, Huth, Whelan, Wilson, Adam, Diouf, Assaidi.
Chelsea: Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry (c), Azpilicueta; Mikel, Matic; Willian, Fabregas, Hazard; Diego Costa.
Subs: Cech, Filipe Luis, Zouma, Ake, Oscar, Schurrle, Drogba.
Jose Mourinho has gone for a more physical side against the potters. Oscar starts from the bench, which means Fabregas moves up the field and Mikel joins Matic in the holding midfield role. A perfect combination against the more physical and industrious Stoke City, who managed to score thrice against Arsenal in their last outing at the Britannia.
For the home side, the lineup is pretty straight forward. Crouch leads the attack, while Bojan will be looking to create chances behind him. All in all, an interesting battles awaits.
Our prediction: A 1-2 win for the visitors.