Chelsea vs Stoke Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Chelsea broke their club record of consecutive wins on Boxing Day with a commanding 3-0 thrashing of Bournemouth making it 12 wins on the bounce for the Premier League leaders. Looking back at their form record they look completely unstoppable at the moment, and that’s reflected in their six point lead at the top of the Premier League table.

The hosts have now scored 28 goals since they last dropped points in the league, but it’s at the other end of the pitch where things are most impressive. Antonio Conte’s switch to his preferred back three in October has resulted in them keeping ten clean sheets from their 12 Premier League games.

Stoke will have been dreading this run of fixtures for quite some time. They faced Arsenal back in the middle of December and have since played Southampton, Leicester, and Liverpool ahead of their trip to Stamford Bridge. They did manage to take a point from both Southampton and Leicester, but their trips to the big guns haven’t seen them fare so well.

They lost 4-1 at Liverpool on Tuesday and were beaten 3-1 by Arsenal at the Emirates. Away from home they have now lost four of their last eight, but have conceded a huge 12 goals in these four defeats.

This will come as good news to the returning Diego Costa and Boxing Day scorer Eden Hazard. The two Chelsea forwards have notched 22 league goals between them this season, but whilst Costa is the leading scorer Hazard has found the net more at Stamford Bridge. Seven of his nine goals have come on home soil, so backing him to score anytime at 1/1 looks the best choice for our goalscorer predictions.

As far as the overall result goes it would be foolish to consider backing against Chelsea in their current vein of form. Stoke have tended to collapse away from home when they fall behind, and Chelsea have won four of their last six home games by at least two goals. Odds of 1.800 for a Chelsea -1.5 Asian Handicap Win look good value to me, so I’m backing that along with a 3-0 correct score predictions at 7/1.