Welcome back to another edition of ‘Chelsea FC takes the world’. On this episode we see if the gang can (insert lame “do it on a rainy day in Stoke” joke cliche here). The Blues have a comfy 10-point lead atop the Premier League table, giving them room for error with tricky fixtures such as this.
But, that’s not what we should be thinking about. The Power of Positivity runs through us. This match will not be a typical boring match. Stoke City won’t try to play an awful style of football to counter Chelsea’s technical superiority. I won’t fall asleep before halftime.
Let’s get these three points.
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Stoke City starting lineup (4-4-2):
Grant | Bardsley, Shawcross, Martins Indi, Pieters | Ramadan, Cameron, Allen, Arnautovic | Berahino, Walters
Substitutes from: Given, Muniesa, Whelan, Afellay, Adam, Diouf, Crouch
Chelsea starting lineup (3-4-3):
Courtois | Cahill (c), David Luiz, Azpilicueta | Alonso, Matic, Kante, Moses | Willian, Costa, Pedro
Substitutes from: Begovic, Zouma, Ake, Chalobah, Loftus-Cheek, Fabregas, Batshuayi
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Date / Time: Saturday, March 18, 15:00 GMT; 11am EDT; 8:30pm IST
Venue: bet365 Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent, England
Referee: Anthony Taylor
Forecast: Rainy, of course.
On TV: none (UK); NBCSN, NBC Universo (USA); Star Sports Select HD2 (India); elsewhere
Streaming online: NBC Sports Live Extra, NBC Universo Now (USA); Hotstar (USA)
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I have no idea what the lineup was the last time Chelsea played, so just pretend I said something insightful about the changes Conte made, assuming he made any.
LET’S GO!