Chelsea vs Sunderland preview: Blues begin new era without Jose Mourinho

A look ahead to the Premier League fixture at Stamford Bridge

Guus Hiddink (GETTY IMAGES)

It’s a big game for…

John Terry: The Chelsea skipper was substituted during their 2-1 defeat at Leicester increasing speculation about his future. With his contract expiring at the end of this season the former England captain will need to perform at a high level against fellow strugglers Sunderland to persuade the new boss that he still has a future at the club.

Best stat…

4: Chelsea have lost four of their last seven Premier League home games. Before this, The Blues had lost just one of their 99 home league fixtures under former manager Jose Mourinho and that was against Sunderland in April 2014.

Remember when...

Fabio Borini scored this penalty in 2014 to help Sunderland perform the 'miracle' survival under Gus Poyet and hand Jose Mourinho his first ever home league defeat at Stamford Bridge.

Player to watch…

Jermain Defoe: Sunderland will be quietly confident of Premier League survival with this little fella in their team. The Englishman guarantees goals and is an important player for Sam Allardyce. His pace and finishing ability could inflict further misery on Chelsea and sink them to the relegation zone this Christmas.

Past three-meetings…

Chelsea 3 (Diego Costa, Remy 2) Sunderland 1 (Fletcher), Premier League, May 2015

Sunderland 0 Chelsea 0, Premier League, November 2014

Chelsea 1 (Eto’o) Sunderland 2 (Wickham, Borini), Premier League, April 2014

Form guide…

Chelsea: WWDLWL

Sunderland: LLWWLL

Vital information…

KICK-OFF TIME: 3pm

TV: Highlights on Match of the Day on BBC One at 10.30pm