Hopefully Chelsea won’t be on the receiving end of misfortune when they are crossing paths with The Black Cats on Saturday evening.
Ahead of a big week in the Premier League, where all full round of fixtures is running during midweek, things are starting to look very good for the Blues.
Manager Jose Mourinho praised the players after beating West Brom 2-0 last weekend, and he used the word “perfection” to describe the midweek thrashing of Schalke in the Champions League.
Chelsea team news
With only Nathan Ake injured it is a fresh-looking squad that put down the miles to travel to the second most distant destination of the season.
Diego Costa has recovered from the knock he received on Tuesday night, while the rest of the squad is looking sharper than ever this season.
Mourinho also took time to praise the players that aren’t playing as much these days, saying they also are doing their bit to help the team.
I don’t have one single player at the moment from the ones that aren’t playing a lot that isn’t training very hard, that is not behaving very well, that is not part of the group, that is not ready to help by playing 10 minutes or one minute or staying on the bench.
That is proof of a brilliant morale among the players, which always is a necessity when aiming to win titles on multiple platforms.
After Saturday’s match against Sunderland we are hosting Tottenham on Wednesday before travelling back to the northeast to play Newcastle. A few changes to the team in that period should be expected.
Sunderland team news
Sunderland are missing three players for the visit of Liverpool, with Emanuele Giaccherini, Billy Jones and Patrick van Aanholt all ruled out to injuries.
Midfielder Ricky Alvarez could return, while defender Sebastian Coates also is available for selection again.
Since being thrashed by Southampton in October, Sunderland have recovered well and come into the Chelsea match unbeaten in three.
Chelsea won 4-3 at the Stadium of Light last season, but Sunderland have won the last two meetings between the teams, including the 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge in April and the Capital One Cup extra time win last December.
It should however be three points again for Chelsea as we are gunning towards the title, and we are going for a 3-1 win. What is your prediction?
Chelsea Talk