Chelsea make the 283 mile journey up to the Stadium of Light on Sunday, to play an out of form Sunderland team, who sit rock bottom in the Premier League having not won in seven consecutive Premier League games.

The blues resumed normality after a torrid week, with a 2-0 victory against an out of form, yet tough to beat Manchester United side, which brought us into fourth, back to the Champions League places.

Chelsea had a lot to rue in the first half, with defensive mishaps, and a flurry of missed chances. The second half saw the best of Chelsea, with Mike Penders producing scintillating saves, Morgan Rogers taking the game on his shoulders,Romeo Lavia producing his best performance yet in a Chelsea shirt, and of course, Estêvão putting his hand up and forcing Xabi Alonso to really consider him as a permanent asset within the starting XI.

Who and What to Look Out For

Brian Brobbey’s physicality will pose questions for Chelsea’s defenders, with Fofana gaining a bit of heat from supporters at Stamford Bridge in recent times for his defensive errors. The Dutch striker is Sunderland’s top scorer, netting three times in the Premier League this season. However, the low-scoring Wearside outfit have had just four different scorers this season, suggesting that varying attacking threat remains low. 

Sunderland have accumulated three red cards this season, with the most recent being defender Omar Alderete who will be unavailable for this fixture, so their discipline will be interesting to watch, being frustrated, particularly off the back of a home Europa League loss to Dinamo Zagreb.

Without Brazilian striker Pedro, Chelsea have at times looked a bit toothless in front of goal, relying on moments of brilliance or penalties for goals, particularly in the last two games versus Liverpool and Manchester United. Hope arises in the fact that Sunderland average 1.9 goals per game, and rank 18th in the league for goals conceded, whilst Chelsea rank 3rd in goals scored, with an average of 2.1 goals per game.

Chelsea should look to put their foot on the accelerator early on, and use their abundance of star-sprinkled attacking prowess to put pressure on the Sunderland goal from the off, which they haven’t struggled to do, having scored six of their 19 goals in the first ten minutes of the first half.

What Does History Suggest?

Sunderland aren’t quite the same team as they were last season, and so not too much should be read from the fact that this fixture was lost at the end of last year, with a 2-1 scoreline in Sunderland’s favour, in the last fixture for both teams last season. 

Since 2011, Chelsea have won five of eight Premier League visits to the Stadium of Light, with the last fixture before the one last year taking place in 2016, where Chelsea emerged 0-1 winners.

Team News

Whilst Penders has really come into his own, Emi Martinez was welcomed back into training after undergoing surgery for his broken jaw, so Alonso may have to decide between the two, however it remains highly likely that the 21 year-old Penders will keep his spot within the starting XI

With João Pedro still sidelined, it seems as though Estêvão will start again, alongside Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer, who has just this morning been left out of the England squad for the upcoming international break, despite Tuchel being told that he was available.

Argentine defender Aaron Anselmino was involved in training after his injury sustained in early September, and with Lacroix out until the new year and Hato being deemed as a doubt for this Sunday’s fixture, a piece of defensive reinforcement seems well needed. 

Caicedo was absent for the first 15 minutes of the live streamed training session, so questions of concern are being raised regarding his availability. Henderson was seen in the training session, as he looks like he might appear against his former side.

Predicted Lineup: Penders, Acheampong, Fofana, Colwill, Palestra, Caicedo, Lavia, Estêvão, Palmer, Rogers, Neto