Football – England – Premier League
Saturday 24th May 2015 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
Chelsea were also dealt an unexpected heavy loss at West Brom on Monday night as The Blues were sent crashing to a 3-0 defeat which brought to an end their impressive 16-game unbeaten run which earned them another Premier League title.
They are now expected to have received a blunt rebuke by Jose Mourinho who will be desperate for them to bounce back with a final win at Stamford Bridge to top their season off in style. With just one more home match remaining of the season, Chelsea will be aiming to go through the entire season without defeat on home turf as their overall record shows a dominant 14-4-0 33/8 which also includes no fewer than 11 clean sheets.
When playing bottom half teams at home, Chelsea are also dominant in this area as they’ve won eight of their nine matches played against such opposition, scoring 16 goals and conceding just 2 in reply.
Visitors Sunderland have won just once in their five trip away at top third opposition and have lost three of such encounters which means they’re likely to have their work cut out this afternoon despite needing a point to ensure Premier League survival.
The Black Cats are currently two league places and three points ahead of relegation rivals Hull City, but they’ll go into today’s encounter with a fair amount of confidence following recent wins over Newcastle United, Southampton and Everton – the latter being a 2-0 win at Goodison Park.
Sunderland’s away record reads a disappointing 3-8-6 14/23 and the recent win against The Toffees ended a run of eight away matches without a win.
The visitors’ best chances here appear to be trying to hold on for a point, but Chelsea are a hard side to try and keep out for ninety minutes at the best of times, but on the back of a 3-0 defeat, I’ll back the hosts to not only win but inflict further pain upon Sunderland here with perhaps a 2-0 win.
Pick: Chelsea AH-1 @ 1.79 Bet Victor
