Three things we expected in Chelsea’s match against Stoke City

The Blues visited the host Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium in a bid to solidify their position on top of the Premier League with three maximum points in the game. Nevertheless the home side were not a pushover as they are usually a hard Knut to crack in front of their home fans especially against the big boys as they held United (1-1) and recently City to a goalless (0-0) draw at the Etihad.

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte celebrated like never before after the game as his side continued their decent run of form in order to clinch the League Title in his first season in charge as the Stoke City match ended 1-2 in favour of the Blues in the meantime.

The question now following Chelsea’s win is will the visitors be able to keep up the momentum after picking the three points on the road at a venue as difficult to visit like the Britannia Stadium despite the huge gap at the top of the League Table.

Time will only tell as we take a look at three things that we expected in the Blues match up with the Stoke City side at home.

CHELSEA’S DEFENSIVE CONNOTATION

The Blues as usual filed out for the Stoke City game in their usual 3-4-3 system (formation) as all eyes were glued to this fixture for many reasons. Chelsea are known for their hard core defending that have seen them prevail over some of the strongest teams in the modern game.

The trio of Barcelona, Arsenal and Bayern Munich have been victims at some points to the Blues defensive resilience as the London side endured a 90 minutes shift to win the European crown in 2012 against Bayern Munich.

With the trio of reliable Cesar Azipilicueta, ball playing Brazilian defender David Luiz and the experienced Gary Cahill (Match winner) Chelsea had enough in defence to stand a chance of winning the game coupled with the productive and stern show of Chelsea wingback in Victor Moses (who was replaced by young defender Kurt Zouma later in the game with a possible injury) and Marcos Alonso in the Blues set-up.

STOKE SET-PIECES THREAT

The Stoke City side did their best to haunt Chelsea at home (Britannia Stadium) especially after coming back from a 1-0 down following a well taken penalty by Jonathan Walters to draw the game 1-1 before going into the half time break only to lose the game 1-2 to Chelsea as Willian pilled pressure toward the opposing territory before Gary Cahill snatched the winner in the 87^th minutes of the game.

Stoke City are known for their aerial strength as they possess the likes of Marko Arnautović and the ever present Peter Crouch in attack whose aerial strength just like Andy Carroll lies in the height which is well above most of the players on the average and this makes the forward a threat in the box as he scored in the 4-2 reverse fixture at Stamford Brigde but Chelsea will be pleased as the former Liverpool forward played no part in the game..

Even at the Britannia Stadium and with fans support the Stoke City side with all their doggedness and contentment to employ their tactics in an attempt to nail Chelsea in the game was to no avail as Chelsea defensively curtailed Stoke’s threat in the aerial balls and set-pieces situations.

The Blues were bridged though with Bruno Martins Indi header in the first period which was correctly ruled out for offside to the fury of the home fans after Chelsea defender Cesar Azipilicueta was adjured to be impeded in the box by an opposition which was correctly spotted by the match referee in the game.

CHELSEA’S COUNTER ATTACKING EFFICIENCY

The Blues have been be subject to a level of demand as their formation suggests going into the game but with the likes of Willian (Eden Hazard replacement in Chelsea’s starting line-up), Pedro Rodriguez and center forward Diego Costa Chelsea had their handful in the attacking section as they made the opposition (Stoke City’s) pay especially with the introduction of Cesc Fabregas in the second half as Chelsea attempted to steal the win with time running out on them in the game.

Chelsea counter attack was productive and efficient in recent times as the Blues explored West Ham United defence line in the 1-2 win following a swift attacking moves. The Blues regained possession in midfield and spirited into the opposition half in a matter of seconds to give Chelsea a lead in the best possible fashion.

This counter attack move was orchestrated by the duo of Hazard and Pedro as the former led the proceeding only for Pedro to provide pace and alternative in transition to return the dividend with a clever pass in the path of Hazard as the Blues ran into the lead following a precise finish from the Belgian in the bottom corner.

Even without Hazard in the game the Blues were still menacing on the counter as youngster Reuben Loftus-Cheek almost scored the third for Chelsea following some good spell down the Stoke area as the goalkeeper made a crucial save to leave the scores much respectable at 2-1 after the final whistle.