FA Cup: Is this Chelsea's strongest team to beat Stoke City?

Demba Ba

Chelsea welcome Stoke City to Stamford Bridge this Sunday, with Jose Mourinho looking for FA Cup success for just the second time in his career.

His side secured safe passage into the current phase of the competition, after securing a 2-0 victory over Derby in the third round. John Obi Mikel and Oscar scored in this fixture, setting up an all-Premier League tie between the Blues and the Potters.

The last time these two sides met, Stoke emerged victorious, but Chelsea have played 10 matches since, recording eight wins in the process. A 3-1 win overManchester United at the weekend will have given the London outfit a huge confidence boost and I’m sure this will carry into this match.

We can assume Mourinho will make plenty of changes because he will see this as an opportunity to rest one or two of his bigger names for the Premier League title race. Here I run you through Chelsea’s potential starting line-up.

Goalkeeper: Mark Schwarzer

Schwarzer had a quiet game against Derby but he could be entrusted by Mourinho to stay between the sticks against Stoke. The Aussie has made five competitive appearances since joining Chelsea in the summer and he has conceded just twice during this time, keeping four clean sheets. He featured regularly in the club’s Capital One Cup run – the competition in which he made his debut.

Right-Back: Branislav Ivanovic

Ivanovic has been ever-present for Chelsea this season, playing 20 times in the league and in all six European group fixtures. His domestic form has seen him win 58% of his attempted tackles and 70% of his headed duels. He is yet to feature in the FA Cup.

Ivanovic stats

Centre-Back: Gary Cahill

Chelsea were poor in defence as they suffered a 3-2 defeat to Stoke in their last meeting – Cahill, alongside John Terry, were involved in a huge struggle to prevent the Potters from scoring. The Englishman will need to be wary of the aerial threat posed by Peter Crouch as well as the possibility of Oussama Assaidi cutting inside from the wing. The club were undone on two occasions from moves coming from the right in their previous meeting. The defence will be need to be wiser to Stoke’s tactics on the weekend.

Centre-Back: David Luiz

David Luiz featured in defensive midfield against Manchester United on the weekend and he proved, yet again, that he is prone to making rash decisions. He played in the centre back role versus Derby and I would expect him to be deployed in the same position against Stoke. John Terry is likely to be rested with a huge fixture against Manchester City on the horizon. Luiz will need to improve his tackle success rate in this match, he has completed just 29% of his attempted tackles to date.

Luiz’s poor tackles in the PL 2013/14

Left-Back: Cesar Azpilicueta

Mourinho has opted to rotate Ashley Cole and Cesar Azpilicueta throughout the season, but having played against United on the weekend, it is likely the former will be given an opportunity to rest. Azpilicueta was forced to be patient in his pursuit of recognition at the club, but he has been given his opportunity to shine over recent weeks. He has made 14 Premier League appearances so far and he played a full 90 minutes against Derby in the last round.