- Each club holds 2W-2D-2L recent record in series
- Baggies won their last road match (at Leicester)
- Chelsea remains lone unbeaten PL club
With no early game on Saturday, Stamford Bridge will play host to the first NBCSN match of the weekend. Chelsea and West Bromwich Albion are set to tangle at 10am ET.
The Baggies have been a bogeyman for the Blues over the past few years, with the two clubs drawing twice last season and splitting the season series in 2011-12 and 2012-13.
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But Chelsea has held sway at home, winning every match between the two sides since a 1984 League Cup match. You’d have to go back five more years to find the last league win for the Baggies at Chelsea.
The Blues have a 4-point lead on second-place Southampton, and an 8-point lead on third-place Manchester City. West Brom has dropped to 13th, just four points above the drop zone.
WATCH AT 10AM ET SATURDAY ON NBCSN AND ONLINE VIA LIVE EXTRA
What they’re saying
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho on the match – “‘I expect to win but I expect a very difficult match. I always expect to win, we go into every game thinking that but they have a good team. If you look at our results, 2-1 against Liverpool, 2-1 against QPR, 1-1 against Manchester United, it’s difficult to get a different type of scoreline so I expect a tight match. They know they can get a result against us because they’ve done it in the past.”
West Brom coach Alan Irvine on Chelsea– “"hey are very effective from free play and every effective from set-pieces. We need to take the opportunities that we get to attack them. It’s important that our players aren’t passive - we have to be organised, but also positive and aggressive when we have the ball. We have to be ready for the threats they’ve got, but be good with the ball ourselves too.”
Prediction
Can the Baggies improve on last year’s point at Stamford Bridge? It’s unlikely, but Saido Berahino not having to play for England during his first call-up is a nice boost for Irvine’s crew. Still, there’s too much to like about Chelsea’s unbeaten form to think it ends here. Chelsea, 3-0.