Antonio Conte’s men secured another big victory last Saturday when they went to the Etihad Stadium and came from behind to beat title rivals Manchester City 3-1 to keep their place at the summit of the Premier League table.
Another test awaits Chelsea on Sunday, however, with seventh-placed West Brom visiting the capital. The Baggies are unbeaten in four league games, which includes a 2-1 away win over champions Leicester City.
Like the Blues, West Brom will arrive at the Bridge off the back of a big victory after they secured a 3-1 victory over Watford last weekend.
And, with the last match between Chelsea and West Brom at Stamford Bridge in January ending 2-2, fans can expect a close affair this Sunday.
Kick Off
Chelsea play West Brom at Stamford Bridge on Sunday 11 December. Kick-off is at 12pm BST/5:30 IST.
TEAM NEWS
Chelsea – Captain John Terry will miss the match against Tony Pulis’ side with a muscular problem, while Nemanja Matic is fit again following a calf strain.
Cesc Fabregas replaced Matic in Chelsea’s starting line-up last week and he is set to keep his place in Conte’s midfield, while Willian could replace Pedro and Michy Batshuayi could come in for Diego Costa with Conte admitting he will have to rotate his squad for the busy festive fixture list.
Defender David Luiz is also optimistic he will be fit after hurting his left knee against Manchester City last week.
West Brom – They will still not have goalkeeper Boaz Myhill available for selection due to his ankle injury.
POSSIBLE LINE-UPS
Chelsea (3-4-3): Courtois, Azpilicueta, Luiz, Cahill; Moses, Kante, Fabregas, Alonso; Willian, Batshuayi, Hazard.
West Brom (4-2-3-1): Forster, Nyom, Evans, Dawson, McAuley, Phillips, Morrison, Fletcher, Brunt, Yacob, Rondon.
KEY STATS
Chelsea are unbeaten in 10 previous Premier League games at Stamford Bridge against the Baggies, but have drawn against them in two of the last three seasons (W8 D2).
The Blues have scored in each of their last 21 home league games against West Brom, last failing to find the net against them in December 1967.
Cesar Azpilicueta scored in both games against West Brom last season, scoring the opener in a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge and Chelsea’s third in a 3-2 win at the Hawthorns.
Pulis has only lost one of his last four Premier League games against Chelsea (W2 D1), this after losing nine of his first 11 Premier League games against the Blues (D2).
Chelsea have come from behind to win their last two Premier League games – only four clubs have ever done this in three consecutive games (Leeds in 1997-98, Newcastle in 2001-02, Man Utd in 2002-03 and Arsenal with four in 2011-12).
Eden Hazard’s next Premier League goal will be his 50th – if he scores in this game, he’ll have reached this landmark in 153 apps and will be the joint-third quickest to score 50 PL goals for Chelsea alongside Eidur Gudjohnsen. Only Didier Drogba (106 apps) and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (84 apps) have done it quicker for the Blues.
Betting ODDS
Chelsea to win: 13/50
Draw: 21/4
West Brom to win: 13/1
PREDICTIONS
West Brom have done brilliantly so far, but it’s a big ask at Stamford Bridge. They will keep it tight, make it difficult and wait for set-pieces.
Who could have seen them being a point behind Manchester United in early December? What an achievement.
As for Chelsea, they have some very winnable games over Christmas and if they keep this run going, they could be hard to catch.
Chelsea 2-0 West Brom