Preview
Tomorrow Chelsea travel to Wales to the Liberty Stadium which holds good memories from our last visit in January 2015 when we won 5-0.
This weekend’s fixtures are the reverse fixtures of the opening day of the season. Since that sunny day in August things have gone from bad to worse for Chelsea. The defending champions got off to a poor start with a draw at Stamford Bridge with a pivotal point in the season where there was a bust up between former manager Jose Mourinho and Eva Carneiro. Many will share the view that this moment caused Mourinho to lose the dressing room and was the start of many reasons into our shocking season.
Chelsea will want to avenge the opening day draw with a win tomorrow but 3 points wouldn’t go too far as it seems Chelsea are only playing for positions now with Europa League football looking fairly unlikely as the winners of the FA Cup are more than likely to be outside of a European place meaning only 5th and 6th will get a birth into the competition.
However finishing the season in strong form would certainly be helpful for Conte’s arrival and would also give fans belief that this squad still has what it takes to be Premier League champions despite the many changes expected in the summer.
Guus Hiddink also said today that he will give youngsters game time tomorrow as he cares little for his unbeaten record and would prefer to help give them experience which will benefit their develop at Chelsea. Last weekend was a good weekend for the youngsters with Ruben Loftus-Cheek scoring his first Premier League goal and Matt Miazga & Jake Clarke-Salter making their Chelsea debuts.
Match Details
Saturday, 9th April, kick off at 3:00pm at the Liberty Stadium.
Recent Form
Swansea have seen an improved turn in form since their new head coach Guidolin arrived. In the Swans last 5 matches they have managed 3 wins (Arsenal, Norwich and Aston Villa) including an impressive win at the Emirates. Their other results were a draw to Stoke and loss at Bournemouth.
Chelsea’s unbeaten Premier League run since the December defeat to Leicester still stands but that hasn’t has told the full story as we have also picked up too many draws in that time. Last weekend’s thrashing of Aston Villa was our first win since the midweek trip to Norwich and is our only win in our last 5 fixtures. The other 4 fixtures have resulted in two draws (Stoke and West Ham) and two losses (PSG and Everton).
Team News
Hiddink presented bad news to the media today by revealing that all 3 of John Terry, Nemanja Matic and Loic Remy will be unavailable to play tomorrow.
However he confirmed Gary Cahill was back in training and will have a late assessment to discover whether he is fit enough to be involved.
Diego Costa is serving the final match of his suspension.
My Prediction
Swansea 1-3 Chelsea
