It's the weekend when the opening day pairings are all reversed which brings the Potters to the Bridge. Club historian Rick Glanvill, club statistician Paul Dutton and former player Clive Walker watch the fixture wheel turn. Roberto Di Matteo's first league game as interim first team coach is on the same ground he made his Premier League debut as West Brom boss - Stamford Bridge, naturally - and against the same opposition his predecessor, Andre Villas-Boas, faced when he made his bow back in August.

The popular former Blues midfielder was of course Villas-Boas's assistant in the reverse fixture to this one, which ended in a disappointing 0-0 draw. The Portuguese was the first Chelsea boss since Avram Grant not to enjoy success in his first Premier League match.

Of the last ten Blues managers, going back to Glenn Hoddle in 1993, four (Jose Mourinho, Felipe Scolari, Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti) registered league debut victories, two (Villas-Boas and Claudio Ranieri - at Old Trafford) earned draws, and three were defeated (Hoddle, Grant and Gianluca Vialli - who lost his first three league games on the spin).

For all the carping about the frequency of turnover at the helm of Stamford Bridge, Chelsea have won six major honours since Arsène Wenger last touched silverware at Arsenal.

Meanwhile, Chelsea's love affair with Italy continues - Di Matteo is the fourth Blue to manage our club. The former Lazio man faces a tough induction against ninth-placed Stoke, although the Potters have not won away in the league since early January.

The Staffordshire club are currently ten points behind the Blues and have drawn the last two encounters at the Britannia. At the Bridge it is a different matter. The Londoners have taken three points in all three Premier League meetings at the Bridge. Also Potters have conceded 13 goals on their last four league visits to the Bridge.

In 2010 Chelsea meted out a 7-0 thrashing, with presently preferred goalie Asmir Begovic coming on as a sub for his debut and picking the ball out of the net five times.

Stoke are also potential FA Cup semi-final opponents. Their quarter-final tussle with Liverpool follows the Blues' game against Leicester City on Sunday 18 March.

The FA Cup and Europe have taken both sides' match count over 40. The Potters played their first Europa League qualifier against Hajduk Split on 28 July and this weekend's game is their 45th; it is also Chelsea's 42nd.

Stamford Bridge will have very special guests of honour at the match. Their ancestors formed Chelsea Football Club 107 years ago on 10 March 1905.

The club was created during a meeting at the Rising Sun pub on that Friday evening, and descendants of the men whose vision and ambition made that happen will be present on Saturday to celebrate our Founders Day.

This is the first time for many years that a home match has fallen on that auspicious date.

Fourth visits sixth as Newcastle chase a second successive win at Arsenal on Monday evening. On Saturday night Spurs are Everton's first visitors since Chelsea succumbed there a month ago.

- Match preview by chelseafc.com