Predicted Chelsea XI to play Stoke City – Lampard and Willian in, Terry and Schurrle out

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Match to be played on Saturday 5th April 2014 at 17:30. Venue: Stamford Bridge, London.

Chelsea need to recover quickly to their defeat at PSG in the Champions League with a difficult game at home against Stoke this weekend.

Jose Mourinho was not happy following the result in France and he’s likely to make some changes to his team this weekend, as he challenges all of his players to respond in positive fashion.

Here’s the side he may go with.

GK – Petr Cech

The Czech international needs to produce a dominant performance in this game against an attack, which will be looking to rough him up throughout.

RB – Branislav Ivanovic

The right-back has been in decent form all season on the right hand side of defence. He needs to stay alert because Stoke could attack him with pace down that side.

CB – Gary Cahill

Cahill wasn’t at his best against PSG and should be very determined to turn things around for this game. Expect to see him getting stuck in against Stoke’s height and power.

CB – David Luiz

It may be time to give John Terry a rest after an own goal against Crystal Palace last weekend and a mistake for PSG’s first goal last night. Luis is capable of stepping in.

LB – Cesar Azpilicueta

The Spanish defender will more than likely continue at left-back. He’s been solid for most of the season.

RM – Willian

Willian could come back into the starting side at the expense of Andre Schurrle. He’ll be fresh and should be determined to hang onto his starting place for the rest of the season.

DM – Nemanja Matic

Matic has been superb in terms of protecting the defence ever since he moved to the club. He offers a real presence in midfield.

CM – Frank Lampard

Mourinho may opt for a bit more experience in the middle of his team, which means it’s more than likely that Lampard will start the game though the middle, pushing forward to support the attack.

AM – Oscar

Oscar got into some good positions against PSG and will be disappointed that he didn’t have more of an impact over the game. However, he keeps his place.

LM – Eden Hazard

The Belgian will keep his place over on the left. He was coolness personified as he stepped up to score Chelsea’s only goal last night. He’ll be looking to add to his tally from open play.

ST – Fernando Torres

Chelsea really missed the presence of a striker against PSG and Torres should start ahead of Demba Ba, aiming to work as hard as possible to make things difficult for Stoke.