Chelsea will equal Arsenal’s Premiership record of 13 wins in a row, set all the way back in the 2001-02 season if they beat Stoke at home on New Year’s Eve. They are in sensational form and should not have much trouble in doing exactly that. Stoke are nothing special on the road and should provide little opposition to the Chelsea juggernaut.
Chelsea’s magnificent march to the top of the table is a testament to the managerial ability of Antonio Conte, who guided Juventus to back-to-back Serie A titles during his time in charge of the Italian club. It was all doom and gloom back in September when they lost 3-0 to Arsenal at the Emirates, but after a sleepless night Conte switched the formation to his preferred three at the back and the Blues cannot stop winning ever since. Now they are on course to break Arsenal’s 12-year record. If they beat Stoke and then win away at Tottenham on January 4 they will be holders of the best winning streak since the Premiership began.
They really are firing on all cylinders. During the 12 wins in a row they have racked up they have conceded just twice, against top sides in Man City and Tottenham. Gary Cahill, David Luiz, and Cesar Azpilicueta are working in perfect harmony and complement one another perfectly with their varying abilities, while Thibaut Courtois is a gargantuan presence between the sticks. The formation suits them perfectly, with Marcos Alonso and Victor Moses provided width and energy, N’Golo Kante dominating the midfield, Diego Costa banging in the goals and Eden Hazard doing what he does best: deciding games with his outrageous footballing ability.
This is a group of players that won the league two seasons ago but then finished all the way back in 10th last season. There are clearly some players with questionable mentalities given their slump in form last season, but the fiery and animated Conte is proving himself an excellent man manager by getting the best out of his stars. Costa already has more goals than he managed in the whole of last season. Hazard, freed from the defensive responsibilities he hates by the presence of Moses and Alonso, is back to his best and is on course to win Footballer of the Year once more.
They were missing Kante and Costa last time out but still beat Bournemouth 3-0. Chelsea will be back to pretty much full strength against Stoke, which is ominous for the Potters. Stoke’s defeat at the hands of Liverpool last time out left them 12th in the table, with seven defeats from 18. Four of those losses have come away from home, and they will struggle to impose themselves on a Chelsea side full of swagger and confidence. Costa will be rested and raring to go, and Chelsea should make short work of Stoke.
Odds of 1.33 on a home win for Chelsea actually look pretty generous, especially when you consider Stoke have never won at Stamford Bridge. But a way of getting more value would be to consider Chelsea winning to nil. Chelsea has by far and away the meanest defence in the Premiership, having conceded just 11 goals in 18 games. But since they switched to three at the back, they have let in just two goals in 12. The other nine goals they conceded came in the first six games of the season when they had four at the back. Since going to three in defence they have won 10 wins out of 12 to nil. That is exceptional, and Stoke are not great going forwards. They have some strong attacking midfielders but lack a lethal out and out striker. Chelsea win to nil is 2.05 with Bet365 and that looks like a great bet, particularly when most bookmakers have them odds-on in this market.
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