Stoke City and Chelsea are playing on the Barclays English Premier League schedule and the match is on Monday night from Britannia Stadium at 3 pm ET and 8 pm local time and coverage is on the NBC Sports Network and NBCSN Live Extra website online and this is a good chance for the first place Blues to separate from Man City on the EPL table against the Potters.
Jose Mourinho leads his side in and the teams will play next in April at Stamford Bridge for the return trip and coming into Monday, Chelsea is tied on points with Manchester City. Chelsea has been in first place all season and it looked like no one would catch them, but Manchester City has played as well as anyone in recent weeks. The holiday schedule is always a chance for teams to make up ground and now Chelsea is looking to push ahead again heading into the Christmas matches and New Year's as well.
Last year Chelsea finished in the top three and now they have the chance to stay in first place heading into the 2015 calendar. Many wondered whether Chelsea could go through the season undefeated, but that of course ended with the loss against Newcastle, which was a 2-1 defeat. The team still has the chance to stay clean at Stamford Bridge and the way they have been playing there it would not be a surprise to see them finish the season without any defeats at home.
Chelsea comes into the matchup with some solid games coming up, including with Southampton and Tottenham on the road, while Man City is also on the schedule later in January. That will be a big matchup with the way the Citizens are playing and coming up after this matchup with Stoke is a game with West Ham and that will also be at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea rebounded with a home win against Hull City after the loss to Newcastle and they are now tied for the most goals scored this season.
The EPL table is getting tight at the top, as Chelsea and Man City are tied heading into the Monday game on points and goals scored. Man United is now in third place on the league table and they have a one point advantage on West Ham and they are two points clear of Southampton. Arsenal is within striking distance and they are in sixth ahead of Tottenham. Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas have been two of the main reasons why the team has been so strong this season and they will be looking to continue that through the holiday schedule.
Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois should be back after dealing with an injury and that is big for the team and both Didier Drogba and Kurt Zouma are also expected to return. The Blues now have only lost once in the past 19 games played on Monday and that bodes well for the team and Stoke has only won once time over the last 12 meetings with Chelsea in the EPL and that came last season at home. Chelsea is still considered the favorites for the EPL title this year and win here would be big after Man City pulled into a tie on points for the moment.
