Livescores.com
The Blues had been on an upwards trajectory with three wins in a row following their opening-day defeat, but last weekend’s goalless stalemate against Arsenal prevented them from closing the gap on two the table-topping teams from Manchester.
A 5-1 win over Nottingham Forest in the League Cup midweek allowed the Blues to rest some players and give others valuable game time, while the easy win didn’t do any harm to moral.
The Potters, meanwhile, have recently endured back-to-back defeats in league and cup. Recent draws against West Brom and Manchester United were followed last weekend by a 2-1 loss to Newcastle United.
Their midweek League Cup clash with Bristol City also ended in tears and a 2-0 loss, leaving them with work to do before hosting the reigning champions.
"We disappointed ourselves earlier in the week, so we are eager to respond to that in the right manner against Chelsea," said Stoke boss Mark Hughes.
"There is always a reaction on the back of a disappointing result, and we fully expect the performance to be markedly better this weekend.
"We are coming up against Chelsea, the champions, and we saw their quality in midweek when they were able to dispatch of their opposition at ease.
"It will be a huge test for us, but we have come up against Arsenal and Manchester United and taken points off them so we are confident of doing the same this weekend."
In team news, the Potters are facing an injury crisis in central defence. Ryan Shawcross and Geoff Cameron both miss out through injury, while Kurt Zouma is ineligible to play against his parent club and Kevin Wimmer has picked up a minor hamstring issue ahead of the match, making the Austrian "touch and go" to be available for Saturday.
For the Blues, Pedro is a slight doubt due an ankle injury, while new signing Danny Drinkwater is not yet fit to make his debut for the club. Centre-back David Luiz is suspended following his red card against Arsenal.
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