The Blues take on the Potters for the third time this season in Saturday's late kick-off. Our opponents' fans may like to sing 'Delilah' but after two miserable away losses, Saturday is all about the green, green grass of home for Chelsea supporters in the next two crucial matches over four days.

We have suffered three successive away defeats and four in the last six. The Bridge remains a citadel however and Stoke have a poor recent record on the Fulham Road.

Title favourites Man City and leaders Liverpool, both out of the Champions League, also face potentially tricky matches. The Citizens host to Southampton, a side they have not beaten in the last two encounters. On Sunday afternoon the Merseysiders are away to a revived West Ham at the Boleyn Ground, where they have lost just twice in five trips. Their skipper Steven Gerrard faces a two-match ban should he be booked for a 10th time this season before 14 April.

Arsenal, smashed 6-0 and supposedly out of sight by the Blues a fortnight ago, remain the major threat to the third-place finish Jose Mourinho has targeted. They travel to Everton - four points behind with a game in hand - over Sunday lunch; the last three meetings between the two sides have ended in draws.

Chelsea simply have to make home advantage against comfortably mid-table sides count. The Blues have conceded more goals against bottom-half opposition (13) than against the top half (11) this season.

The flurry of poor goals and nature of their concession is reminiscent of a similar run in December, which included the 2-3 loss away to this weekend's opponents, Stoke City.

Perhaps the Potters made a strategic error by returning to 10th position with their impressive recent victory at Aston Villa, though: Chelsea have the second best record in the Premier League against sides in top 10, but only the sixth best against those below the midway point. (Stoke's record is 10th best against the top half.)

Nonetheless, a Stoke win would inflict a third successive defeat on the west Londoners for the first time since May-August 2006, when we lost the last two league games against Blackburn and Newcastle (having already won the Premier League) and the Community Shield against Liverpool.

The last hat-trick of defeats when it mattered was in September and October 2002, when an embarrassing reverse at Viking Stavanger in the UEFA Cup was sandwiched between league defeats at home to West Ham and away to Liverpool.


- Match preview by chelseafc.com (Rick Glanwill and Paul Dutton)