Chelsea vs Stoke live streaming: Watch Hazard & Mourinho on April 5

Topics: Live Stream, TV Schedules, Live Scores, Chelsea, Stoke City, English Premier League

Chelsea will be looking to have their say in the title race when they welcome Stoke City to the Stamford Bridge on Saturday, the 5th of April 2014.

Preview: Blues looking to bounce back from consecutive defeats

Just when it seemed nothing could go wrong for Chelsea, the Blues have not only conceded their place at the top of the Premier League, but as things stand Chelsea’s place in the last four of the Champions League remains in jeopardy.

Mourinho’s men suffered their second defeat in four games in the league when an own goal from captain John Terry resulted in Chelsea dropping all three points at the Selhurst Park against Crystal Palace. Four days later the Blues were at the receiving end of another defeat as PSG got the better of the London side, subjecting Mourinho’s men to a 3-1 loss.

Chelsea’s Portuguese tactician once again lamented on the lack of a world class striker in his squad. The former Real Madrid head coach chose to field Andre Schurrle in an unfamiliar role as the German was chosen ahead of under firing Fernando Torres to lead the line.

The Spanish striker has lost the faith of his manager having produced below par performances this season. The former Liverpool man has scored just nine goals this season with only one goal coming in the last 11 appearances. Chelsea have evidently suffered in the absence of first choice striker Samuel Eto'o with Demba Ba also failing to regularly feature for the Blues. The Cameroon international who has been missing since scoring the first goal as Chelsea steamrolled Arsenal 6-0 two weeks back is a doubt for the match against Stoke but could make a surprise return to the squad.

But whether or not Eto’o makes it to the squad for Saturday’s match, Chelsea will have to pick up their game by a notch or two if they are to achieve anything for their efforts with the current season nearing its conclusion. With just six games left to play Chelsea are currently second in the league table but with Man City left with two games in hand, Chelsea could easily drop down to third in a few weeks’ time.

Chelsea will now be up against a side which has fared well recently. The Potters are undefeated in their last five matches which also includes a 1-0 victory over Arsenal at the Britannia Stadium. Their 1-0 victory over Hull City last time out stretched their win streak to three matches and Stoke will be hoping to continue their fine form.

Mark Hughes’ men have good memories of their last league clash against the Blues. In the reverse fixture at the Britannia in December, Stoke raced to a 3-2 win courtesy of a last ditch goal from Liverpool loanee Oussama Assaidi and Hughes is confident that his side can put forth a similar display at the Stamford Bridge.

"We can take a lot of confidence from the fact that we have played and beaten Chelsea in the league once this season," he said.

"It was a tremendous occasion for us, especially with the manner in which the winning goal came about - in the final minute when they had no time to get back on level terms.”

Apart from their positive performance in the league against Chelsea, the Potters also put up a good showing against the Blues in the FA Cup encounter but were unlucky to lose as Brazilian midfielder Oscar scored the only goal of the match.

"We have played them at Stamford Bridge in the cup too this year, and we were in that game from start to finish. We didn't really create the opportunities that we would have liked, so we would like to improve upon that on Saturday."

However Stoke have a disappointing record at the Stamford Bridge having lost on their last seven visits to the stadium, having failed to record a goal in six of those matches. However keeping in mind their good form Stoke might be able to pull off an upset against a Chelsea side which has appeared to be vulnerable in the recent weeks.

Ramires will continue to serve suspension for the red card he received in the match against Aston Villa, whereas both Ashley Cole and Marco Van Ginkel are expected to miss out. Samuel Eto'o however might make a return to the squad.

Stoke on the other hand are expected to be without defender Robert Huth and forward Oussama Assaidi both of whom have been facing knee problems.