Top four chasing Chelsea welcome West Bromwich Albion to Stamford Bridge to kick off a packed round of Easter action in the Premier League.
Victory would see Chelsea move five points clear of fifth-placed West Ham, whereas West Brom can move to within four points of safety with a win.
Team News
Edouard Mendy is fit to start for Chelsea in goal after a dental procedure ruled him out for Senegal in March’s international window.
Thiago Silva (muscle), Jorginho (knee) and Tammy Abraham (ankle) are also in contention but N’Golo Kante (hamstring) is a doubt alongside Callum Hudson Odoi, after the youngster was sent home from England U21s duty with a shoulder injury.
West Brom have no fresh injury concerns to report but Conor Gallagher is ineligible to face his parent club.
Stat Attack
- Chelsea are unbeaten in their last seven meetings against West Brom (W5, D2).
- West Brom are winless in their last 17 trips to Stamford Bridge across all competitions (D3, L14).
- This is the very first managerial meeting between Thomas Tuchel and Sam Allardyce.
- West Brom have kept just one clean sheet in eight away trips under Allardyce in all competitions.
- Chelsea won their only previous home league game refereed by David Coote, defeating Everton 2-0 in early March.
Prediction
With this match marking the first Premier League clash since the three match international window, it will be interesting to see if there are any effects on team selections and particularly Chelsea who had several players away on international duty.
Speaking of Thomas Tuchel’s Blues, they continue to march on unbeaten since his arrival but they did struggle at times with Sheffield United’s tempo, yet defended and dug deep to find a clinical win.
West Brom meanwhile haven’t played for three weeks but they have often lacked end product which has cost them narrow wins if not draws in tight contests, although they will need to be at their absolute best to get anything here.
On that note, I think this is set to be a routine home win although West Brom should make a contest of this if have worked hard on their finishing during their break, yet I think Chelsea will get a comfortable result if their international players are fully fit and ready.
Prediction: Chelsea 2-0 WBA
Result: Chelsea 2-5 WBA
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