Having the final say on the Premier League this weekend is Chelsea vs Hull City – a fixture which sees the table toppers play hosts to a side who entered matchday 22 in the relegation zone.
Indeed, it’s been a difficult season for the Tigers, who are already onto their third manager of the campaign after Steve Bruce’s resignation in the summer and Mike Phelan’s dismissal at the start of January.
Replacement Marco Silva has gone some way to turning his side’s results around, picking up two wins from his three fixtures in charge. But the relatively unknown Portuguese faces his biggest challenge yet this weekend – a trip to the Premier League champions in waiting.
In direct contrast to the Humberside outfit, Chelsea have been a length ahead the rest in the Premier League this season, with Antonio Conte’s switch to a 3-4-3 formation proving the difference in the title race.
But in the ever-unpredictable world of Premier League football, that certainly doesn’t guarantee a Chelsea win in Sunday’s 4.30pm kickoff. So, who are the bookies backing? How will injuries affect team selections? What do the managers have to say for themselves and where will the game be lost and won?
We answer those questions, and many more, in our all-in-one preview…
Favourites, form and prior encounters
Chelsea win 2/11 – Hull win 14/1
Draw 6/1
Unsurprisingly, Chelsea are the bookies’ favourites for this one by quite some distance. Not only are the pole position west Londoners a staggering 17 places and 36 points above Hull in the Premier League table, but they also boast home advantage for Sunday’s clash. The Blues have taken 27 points from a possible 30 at Stamford Bridge this term – their only non-win coming in the form of a 2-1 defeat to Liverpool all the way back in September.
The last six encounters don’t give Tigers fans much cause for optimism either; Chelsea have won five of them, the only exception being a 1-1 draw between the two sides on Humberside back in 2010. In fact, from their 45 meetings, the Tigers have only claimed four wins – two of which predate World War One. If there’s one ray of hope for Hull, however, its that they travel to Stamford Bridge on the back of two wins from their last three games – a 2-0 over Swansea in the FA Cup and a 3-1 demolition of Bournemouth last weekend.
Courtesy of SkyBet and Whoscored.
Injuries and Suspensions
Don’t be fooled by the above – Chelsea boast a clean bill of health for the weekend. Of course, Diego Costa was ruled out of the 3-0 win over Leicester City with a ‘back strain’, but few have bought the story amid consistent reports of a bust-up with Antonio Conte and a potential move to the Chinese Super League. But the Premier League top scorer held ‘amicable’ talks with Conte earlier this week and has since returned to training, so we’re expecting him to lead the line against Hull. The west Londoners are also suspension free, so Conte has the full squad at his disposal.
Hull, on the other hand, are thwarted by a raft of injury problems that has further depleted an already under-staffed squad – suggesting another tough afternoon for the Humberside outfit, who will also be without AFCON duo Dieumerci M’Bokani and Ahmed Elmohamady as well as Jake Livermore – who has rather incredibly been sold to West Brom. Marco Silva will be most desperate for Robert Snodgrass to overcome a muscle complaint in time for kickoff; the Scotland international has been their talisman this season, providing seven and scoring three of their 20 league goals.
Courtesy of PhysioRoom.
Likely Starting XIs
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With Diego Costa returning to the fold, it’s the usual suspects for Chelsea – Thibaut Courtois in goal, a three-man defence which has kept eleven clean sheets already this season and an overtly industrious, box-to-box midfield four. The only real area of contention is the right slot in the forward line, which feels like a toss-up between Willian and Pedro. With Hull likely to sit incredibly deep, however, we’re going with the latter – the former Barcelona winger offers real quality in tight spaces, whereas Willian’s ability to eat up ground on the break won’t be quite so effective.
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Considering Hull picked up just their fourth win of the season last time out, face a host of injury problems and continue to fill their bench with members of the U23 squad, we’re expecting Marco Silva to name an unchanged line-up for the visit to Stamford Bridge. The only point of debate is whether new signings Evandro and Oumar Niasse can force their way into the starting XI after featuring from the bench in the 3-1 win over Bournemouth last weekend.
The Key Battle – Snodgrass vs Chelsea
To say Hull are a one-man team would be unfair, but it seems any result other than a hefty defeat at Stamford Bridge will require a moment of inspiration from Robert Snodgrass. As previously mentioned, the Scottish attacker has played a part in exactly half of his side’s 20 Premier League goals this term and his performances in recent months have verged upon talismanic, keeping the Tigers’ survival hopes alive. He’s Hull’s likeliest source of a goal, so if Chelsea can contain the midfielder, logic suggests they’ll stroll to a pretty comfortable win.
Word from the managers
Antonio Conte on Diego Costa…
“I think the player wants to stay at Chelsea, he is happy to stay here and play for us. I don’t see any problem with our team. I heard a lot of speculation about Diego, but now the most important thing is he trained with us this week, he does not have any pain in his back and can play.
“He is an important player for us and we all know this. When he stays in good form he has always played with me.”
Marco Silva on Chelsea…
“Chelsea are having a fantastic season. They have a very good coach in Antonio Conte and it will be a tough test for us to go to Stamford Bridge. It will be difficult, but we will go there and look to compete. We will need to produce a good team performance. We will have to show our organisation and compete for the full 90 minutes.
“Nothing has been done differently in our preparations this week because we are playing Chelsea. We have done the normal things that we have done for the previous games against Swansea, Manchester United and Bournemouth.
“The only difference this week is that we have had more time to prepare ahead of the game. That is important for me and my players. They have had more time to work with my ideas and hopefully we will see the benefits on Sunday.”