Sunderland v Chelsea: Can Rafa get his Blues playing sexy football at the Stadium of Light?
The champions of Europe bowed out of the Champions League in midweek but Rafa Benitez finally got his first Chelsea win under his huge belt. The Blues made light work of Nordsjaelland, but can they bring that sexy football into their struggling league campaign?
Sunderland have traditionally been an easy game for Chelsea. The Black Cats have lost 14 of their past 15 meetings, but the men from Wearside can pull it out of the bag now and again. You only have to go back two seasons when Sunderland stunned the Blues 3-0 on their own patch.
Chelsea are in the middle of their worst slump in almost 15 years. Their last league win was against Tottenham almost six weeks ago and they have dropped right out of the title race. Rafa Benitez has come in but the Chelsea fans have made it abundantly clear that he is not welcome at the Bridge. That won't faze the Spaniard though. His main objective is to get Chelsea back to winning ways and history suggests this will be that day.
Sunderland have been surprisingly poor this season. Everyone thought Martin O'Neill would have his men pushing for Europe. Instead they are fighting to stay in the league. They have lost five of their last nine league outings and have only picked up one win bonus in front of their own fans. They start the weekend just one point above the drop zone but with this and Tuesday night's six-pointer against Reading to contend with, they could well be in the bottom three come Wednesday morning.
The Black Cats are in need of a lift before Christmas. Can they get it here today or will Rafa beat the boo boys?
Sunderland v Chelsea; Kick Off 3pm December 8 2012
Prediction Panel
|
Arsenal |
Josh Ben Moshe |
0 |
V |
1 |
|
Aston Villa |
Frank Pattison |
1 |
V |
2 |
|
Chelsea |
Joe Tyler |
0 |
V |
1 |
|
Everton |
Chris Goodwin |
0 |
V |
2 |
|
Fulham |
Neil Springate |
1 |
V |
2 |
|
Liverpool |
Dave Disciascio |
1 |
V |
2 |
|
TBA |
Callum Rothwell |
1 |
V |
2 |
|
Man United |
Alex Richert |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Newcastle |
Greg Hall |
TBA |
V |
TBA |
|
Norwich |
Sue Read |
1 |
V |
3 |
|
QPR |
John Jaycock |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Reading |
Jon Keen |
1 |
V |
2 |
|
Southampton |
Andy Saunders |
0 |
V |
0 |
|
Stoke City |
Jack Heaney |
0 |
V |
2 |
|
Sunderland |
Tony Ratton |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Swansea |
Jim Barry |
3 |
V |
2 |
|
Spurs |
Adam Crawford |
0 |
V |
2 |
|
West Brom |
Andy Wakeman |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
West Ham |
Matt Beeby |
0 |
V |
1 |
|
Wigan |
Jimmy Shine |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
OUR EXPERTS |
|
|
|
|
|
Writer |
Colin Illingworth |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Writer |
Steve Coulter |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Writer |
Hugh Larkin |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Writer |
Mitch Waddon |
1 |
V |
2 |
|
Writer |
Chris Pettitt |
0 |
V |
1 |
|
Writer |
Sarshar Hosseinnia |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Blackburn fan |
Terry Kennedy |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Bolton fan |
David Blackburn |
1 |
V |
2 |
|
Boro fan |
Sue Gardener |
1 |
V |
3 |
|
Pompey fan |
Dan Taylor |
1 |
V |
2 |
|
Pompey fan |
Peter Rendle |
0 |
V |
2 |
|
West Ham fan |
Nigel Telfer |
0 |
V |
2 |
|
Wolves fan |
Chris Cox |
0 |
V |
0 |
|
Editor |
Antony Melvin |
0 |
V |
0 |
Panel Verdict
Away win.
Home: 3; Draw: 11; Away: 19. TBA 1.
* Do we have it right or do you know better? We’d love to hear from you.
