Eden Hazard made his first Chelsea start this season on Wednesday, completing 90 minutes in the Carabao Cup against Nottingham ForestTEAM NEWS

Kevin Wimmer is nursing a hamstring strain and could be one of four senior defenders unavailable for Stoke.

On-loan centre-back Kurt Zouma is ineligible to play against his parent club, while Geoff Cameron and Ryan Shawcross are both injured.

Chelsea's Eden Hazard could make his first league start of the season.

David Luiz is banned but Temoue Bakayoko should be available despite a minor car accident in the week, and Pedro is fit after a leg injury.

MOTD COMMENTATOR'S NOTES

John Motson: "Mark Hughes has bemoaned his side's tough start, but five points from five matches is a decent return for a team that is traditionally slow out of the blocks.

"However, three wins from their last 16 Premier League games doesn't reflect well and they'll be looking for a reaction here after a midweek defeat to Bristol City in the League Cup.

"Chelsea had no such trouble in that competition as Michy Batshuayi's hat-trick saw them cruise past Nottingham Forest. The Belgian could feature here, especially when you consider Chelsea's next two fixtures - Atletico Madrid and Manchester City.

"Antonio Conte will select a team with those games in mind and I feel he could be well served utilising Chelsea's talented pool of youngsters this season."

WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY

Stoke City manager Mark Hughes: "We disappointed ourselves earlier in the week, so we are eager to respond to that in the right manner against Chelsea.

"There is always a reaction on the back of a disappointing result, and we fully expect the performance to be markedly better this weekend.

"It will be a huge test for us, but we have come up against Arsenal and Manchester United and taken points off them so we are confident of doing the same this weekend."

Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte: "For sure it will be a really tough game. They [Stoke] beat Arsenal and drew against United; it means they are a very good team.

"We must pay great attention tomorrow. This is the first of three tough games in seven days. A good test and challenge for us."

...and on forward Diego Costa: "I think the past is not important. We have to work for the present and future to build something important.

"We won together last season and for sure we want to thank him for his effort last season, and in the period he played for Chelsea."

LAWRO'S PREDICTION

The Potters will set out to make it difficult for Chelsea, and they showed against Manchester United earlier in the month what they are capable of against the top teams.

Chelsea are no pushovers, though, and will be ready for a battle.

Prediction: 1-1

Lawro's full predictions v Kingsman actor Mark Strong.

Think you can do better than Lawro? Predict the score for this match and the rest of this round's Premier League fixtures in our Predictor game.MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

Stoke have won only two of their 18 Premier League matches against Chelsea, with both victories coming at home: 3-2 in December 2013 and 1-0 in November 2015.The Potters have been beaten 13 times by Chelsea in the Premier League, their worst record against any club in the division.

Stoke City

Stoke have managed only three wins in their last 16 Premier League matches.However, they have lost just once in their past seven top-flight home matches against the reigning champions (W2, D4).Mark Hughes is facing Chelsea for the 24th time as a Premier League manager. He has lost 15 of those meetings, more than against any other opponent.

Chelsea

Chelsea have lost only three of their last 23 Premier League games (W17, D3).The Blues have also won seven of their past eight away matches in the league.They could win their opening three Premier League away matches for the first time since 2009. Their third away fixture of that campaign was a 2-1 victory at Stoke.Chelsea have received five red cards in their previous nine games in all competitions.Alvaro Morata's three Premier League goals and two assists this season have all come via headers.SAM's verdictMost probable score: 0-1Probability of draw: 24%Probability of home win: 18%Probability of away win: 58%

SAM (Sports Analytics Machine) is a super-computer created by @ProfIanMcHale at the University of Liverpool that is used to predict the outcome of football matches.

Source: bbc.com

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