Chelsea had a tough time of it last season against Mark Hughes’ resilient Stoke City side. The Blues actually went winless against the Potters losing at the Britannia Stadium and only managing to draw in the return fixture at Stamford Bridge so no doubt Antonio Conte will be well aware of the genuine threat Stoke pose to Chelsea’s 12 match winning run and the manager therefore will have left no stone unturned. Eden Hazard was the inspiration in Chelsea’s 3-0 win last time out against Bournemouth and the Belgian is back to his imperious best this season under the management of Antonio Conte. Stoke City come into the game having been thumped 4-1 at Anfield by a rampant Liverpool on last Tuesday night so the flying Belgian will be licking his lips at the prospect of getting at Stoke’s porous looking defence.

Chelsea’s current 12 game winning run in the Premier League has only been bettered once since the inception of the Premier League and the team that did it? Well it was Arsenal who managed 14 wins in a row across 2 seasons between February and August of 2002. So to beat that record would be extra sweet for Antonio Conte and his men given the defeat they suffered at the hands of Arsenal back on the 24th of September when Arsene Wenger’s team handed a resounding 3-0 defeat to Chelsea at the Emirates which was of course their last loss in the League. Chelsea need to beat Stoke and then Spurs away on January 4th 2017 if they are to equal the winning streak record.

Despite last season’s poor record against Stoke, the recent history of this fixture certainly favours Chelsea as you have to go all the way back to April in 1974 to find the last time Stoke beat Chelsea away which they did by a 1-0 scoreline in 1974. Since then however Chelsea have gone 11 matches unbeaten at home against the Potters. Another big plus for Conte’s side is that Stoke boss Mark Hughes has never tasted victory as a manager at Stamford Bridge in the top flight. Hughes has brought various teams under his management to the Bridge 10 times in the past but has only achieved 2 draws while suffering 8 defeats.

Chelsea of course will be welcoming back their 2 best players of the season so far in super striker Diego Costa and midfield general N’Golo Kante who have both completed their 1 match bans. Antonio Conte will likely restore both players to the starting line-up. Even though Stoke City are never an easy proposition we see this match only going one way and we think Chelsea will make it 13 Premier League wins in a row courtesy of  3-1 win in the 3pm kick-off on New Year’s Eve at the Bridge.

Let us know how you see the match going in the comments below.