Stoke City vs Chelsea: What time does it start, what TV channel is it on, where can I watch it?
Follow all the action from the Premier League fixture at the Bet 365 stadium
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Mark Hughes’s Stoke are the latest team tasked with trying to halt Chelsea's seemingly inevitable march towards the title.
SHughes’ side have only one victory against Chelsea at home in 17 attempts in the Premier League and, to make their task even harder, they will be without the injured Jack Butland.
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte could extend Chelsea’s gap at the top to 13 points as second-place Spurs don’t play until Sunday.
Follow all of the action with our liveblog...
What time does it start?
Stoke City vs Chelsea kicks off at 3.00pm
Where can I watch it?
The match will be available to listen to on BBC Radio 5 Live from 3.00pm.
It’s a big game for…
Peter Crouch. The 36-year-old striker has scored four goals this season and is only four away from his recent best of 8 in the league, which came two seasons ago.
With what seems to be an impenetrable defence at times, Chelsea do appear to have one weakness: high balls to the back post. Crouch could prove key in this regard.
Remember when…
The last time Stoke beat Chelsea in the league was by a one goal margin, as Marko Arnautovic acrobatically finished past Asmir Begovic ito compound Jose Mourinho's misery.
Player to watch…
Cesc Fabregas. The midfielder has been in fine form with seven assists and two goals this season.
Past three-meetings….
Chelsea 4 (Cahill, Willian 2, Costa) Stoke 2 (Martins Indi, Crouch), Premier League, December 2016
Chelsea 1 (Traore) Stoke 1 (Diouf), Premier League, December 2016
Stoke 1 (Arnautovic) Chelsea 0, Premier League, November 2016
Form guide…
Stoke City: DDLWLW
Chelsea: WDWWWW
Odds…
Stoke City to win: 27/5
Chelsea to win: 5/9
Draw: 3/1
(Odds provided by 888 Sport)
9 mins: A first Swansea foray forward. The aforementioned Sigurdsson sent a tantalising free-kick into the Bournemouth penalty area that needed just a delicate touch yet managed to evade everyone. With deliveries like that, it's no surprise to know that the Icelander has more assists than any player in the Premier League.
10 mins: Straight down the other end, the bustling Ryan Fraser make rooms for himself to shoot but drags his effort wide of Lukasz Fabianski's far post. It's a little warning to the Swansea defenders not to sit off the Scot.
14 mins: Another Bournemouth half chance with Fraser at the heart of it. The midfielder's ring-wing cross was met by Benik Afobe, but the striker's header dropped comfortably wide.It's a very open contest so far.
20 mins: Mike Dean shows incredible leniency as Tom Carroll scissors the legs of Fraser right underneath the referee's nose. Normally, the overzealous official would be flashing yellow in an instance for such a misdemeanour but here is content to simply award the free-kick. He must have something big lined up.
24 mins: A nervous 90 seconds for Bournemouth's defenders. After King had inadvertently flicked a header inches wide of his own post for a corner, the home side had to then contend with penalty appeals after Carroll had chipped the ball on to the raised arm of Marc Pugh. Once again, Mike Dean was on top of the incident and he waved the claims away.
31 mins: GOAL! BOURNEMOUTH 1 SWANSEA 0:
A goal! I was just in the process of writing how Bournemouth's early zip had gone and how we were still awaiting the first shot on target, and up pops Benik Afobe to break the deadlock. In fact, we still may be awaiting the first shot on target because the Bournemouth striker's effort was scuffed and looked to be heading wide before clattering into Swansea's Alfie Mawson. The defender's intervention meant the path of the ball changed, wrong-footing Lukasz Fabianski in the process, and ultimately ended up nestling in the back of the net. It's an opener that may yet go down as an own-goal, but for now it means Bournemouth have the lead.
35 mins: Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Artur Boruc flying through the air to tip a curling shot from Sigurdsson behind for a corner. Spectacular as it was, the original shot was going wide but we won't tell the Polish goalkeeper if you don't.
39 mins: It's taken almost all of the first half, but finally Mike Dean goes for his back pocket. It's the name of Swansea midfielder Ki Sung-Yueng that the referee will be making a note of; the South Korean was cautioned after sliding into the energetic Fraser 30 yards from goal.
43 mins: Swansea have been rocked after falling behind and are now struggling to get their key men into the game. Admittedly that may because Fernando Llorente is isolated alone up front while Sigurdsson is shunted out on the left wing. Either way, Paul Clement has a big half-time ahead of him.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments