Antonio Conte
London — Chelsea can take another step towards English football history when they host Stoke City tomorrow, as the Premier League’s jam-packed festive schedule rumbles into 2017.
Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Bournemouth on Boxing Day was their 12th in succession, leaving them two wins short of Arsenal’s overall top-flight record of 14, set over two seasons in 2002.
With each win, Antonio Conte’s side have looked more and more like champions-in-waiting, but with half the season still to go, Chelsea’s players are desperately trying to ignore the hype.
“It’s unbelievable because it’s very difficult to do that in the Premier League, but the team are very compact on the pitch and that’s the right way,” Spanish forward Pedro Rodriguez told the club website.
“Bournemouth are a good team and it was very difficult. Stoke are also a very good team, but we must take it game by game.”
Scorer of two goals against Bournemouth, Pedro will be suspended for the visit of Stoke, which should see top scorer Diego Costa — banned on Boxing Day — return to the starting XI.
Midfield lynchpin N’Golo Kante is also available again after suspension.
Stoke fell to a 4-1 defeat at Liverpool on Tuesday, having gone ahead through Jonathan Walters, and left-back Erik Pieters has urged his team-mates to show more belief against the leading sides.
“Sometimes we have a good 20 minutes, sometimes we have a good second half, but in patches we have been bad — we need to learn to control the game,” said the Dutchman, whose side are 13th in the table”.
Fixtures
Today: Hull City v Everton (22:00 Kingston Communications Stadium),.
Tomorrow: Leicester City v West Ham United (17:00 King Power Stadium), Swansea City v AFC Bournemouth (17:00 Liberty Stadium), Manchester United v Middlesbrough (17:00 Old Trafford), Southampton v West Bromwich Albion (17:00 St. Mary’s Stadium), Chelsea v Stoke City (17:00 Stamford Bridge), Burnley v Sunderland (17:00 Turf Moor), Liverpool v Manchester City (19:30 Anfield).
Sunday: Watford v Tottenham Hotspur (15:30 Vicarage Road Stadium), Arsenal v Crystal Palace (18:00 Emirates Stadium).
Monday: Middlesbrough v Leicester City (14:30 Riverside Stadium), Manchester City v Burnley (17:00 Etihad Stadium), Everton v Southampton (17:00 Goodison Park), Sunderland v Liverpool (17:00 Stadium of Light), West Bromwich Albion v Hull City (17:00 The Hawthorns), West Ham United v Manchester United (19:15 London Stadium).
Table
P W D L F A GD Pts
Chelsea 18 15 1 2 38 11 27 46
Liverpool 18 12 4 2 45 21 24 40
Manchester City 18 12 3 3 39 20 19 39
Arsenal 18 11 4 3 39 19 20 37
Tottenham Hotspur 18 10 6 2 33 13 20 36
Manchester United 18 9 6 3 27 18 9 33
Everton 18 7 5 6 23 21 2 26
Southampton 18 6 6 6 18 20 -2 24
West Bromwich Albion 18 6 5 7 23 22 1 23
Watford 18 6 4 8 22 30 -8 22
West Ham United 18 6 4 8 23 32 -9 22
Bournemouth 18 6 3 9 23 31 -8 21
Stoke City 18 5 6 7 20 28 -8 21
Burnley 18 6 2 10 17 28 -11 20
Middlesbrough 18 4 6 8 16 20 -4 18
Leicester City 18 4 5 9 23 31 -8 17
Crystal Palace 18 4 4 10 29 33 -4 16
Sunderland 18 4 2 12 16 31 -15 14
Swansea City 18 3 3 12 21 41 -20 12
Hull City 18 3 3 12 14 39 -25 12
— AFP.