After a disappointing loss to Everton last night, Arsenal dropped much-needed points in their race to the top of the table. Chelsea are now poised to go up by six points over the Gunners with a win tonight against last place Sunderland. The Blues have not won a match at the Stadium of Light in their last three matches (L2, D1) across all competitions. Sunderland are trying to make it a three wins in a row at home in the Premier League, but Chelsea have not lost successive matches to the Black Cats since 2001.
Chelsea have won nine matches in a row in the Premier League and are poised to make it to ten. They are now on their best run since 2007 and they look like they could make it at least to twelve games in a row before they need to face a a team ranked in the top 5. A win on the road tonight against Sunderland would be their fifth straight away game, which would be a first since April last year. The Blues are not just winning games, they are keeping opponents from scoring goals, with a league leading nine clean sheets since the beginning of the season. Diego Costa has been a man on a mission scoring six goals in his last nine shots on target. The Spaniard has been ruthless this year and leads the league in goals with twelve.
John Terry could make his first appearance in over a month tonight, which would give David Luiz a much needed break. Terry is getting a bit older and his career on the pitch is coming to an end. He is still one of the best defenders in the world, but at 35 years old he will find it harder to make it into the big matches against top-ranked teams.
Premier League Betting Markets
The Blues may be the visiting team tonight but they are big favorites to win with bet365 Sports posting odds in their favor at 1.36, while Sunderland come in at 9.00. If bettors feel like a draw could be the best bet it will give a return of 5.50, but expect Chelsea to win tonight at around 3-0.