CHELSEA PREVIEW: CARDIFF CITY (H)

Chelsea will go into tomorrow’s game aiming to win their opening five games of the Premier League season for the fourth time as newly promoted Cardiff City visit Stamford Bridge.

Cardiff will be concerned entering the match, the hosts have lost one of their past 11 Premier League matches.

At home, they’ve lost two of the last 17 in the League, winning 12.

WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY:

It’s Eden Hazard who Neil Warnock was most worried about in his presser:

“Hazard? People try and kick him but he just loves it, he wants to play. I love his attitude.

I can understand why Chelsea didn't let him go. He's a massive part of what they're trying to do," the Cardiff boss said.

"How do you stop him? Goodness knows. I was hoping Iceland were going to take chunks out of him when he played for Belgium the other night."

The Belgian is now one goal away from equalling Tommy Baldwin as Chelsea’s 11th all-time top scorer, and two away from equalling Barry Bridges as the 10th.

Cardiff City are currently winless in seven games, a run stretching back to April the 28th, despite this Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri is still wary of Neil Warnock’s side:

"I think tomorrow will be a very difficult game. The match after the break is always very difficult team. Mentally, but also we play against a very physical team. If we want the points, we must play a very good game tomorrow."

Chelsea will be without Davide Zappacosta, Emerson Palmieri and Ruben Loftus after all three players picked up injuries during the international break.

The Italian believes that international breaks can be a problem, he said:

"I think FIFA needs to change something for the national teams. With 4 or 5 international breaks that are so long, it is very difficult for us. Maybe the best thing to do is to put the matches of the national teams at the end of the season."

Regardless of the fact that Chelsea have picked up maximum points this season, Sarri believes there is a lot of work to be done:

"My feeling is now we are not a very solid team in the defensive phase. We need to improve and my feeling is we can improve."

The defence could be the main reason why he thinks the Blues aren’t in the title race:

"At the moment, I can answer City or Liverpool. We need another step to reach this level."

Chelsea have been a free scoring side this season, but despite The Bluebirds not starting the season amazingly, only Liverpool (3) have kept more clean sheets than Cardiff’s two.

BETTING ODDS/PREDICTION:

Chelsea are, of course, the bookies favourites, with a home win being priced* at 1/6, with a draw at 6/1 and a Cardiff win at 14/1.

Eden Hazard to score and Chelsea to win is at evens, and if you’re feeling it’ll be a rout then Chelsea to win by four or more goals is priced at 4/1.

Bobby Reid has the lowest odds to score for Cardiff, with a goal at any time from the summer signing priced at 9/2.

If you’re feeling lucky, then a Cardiff win at Junior Hoillett to score first is a very reasonable 100/1.

Personally, I think Chelsea will win 3-0. I can see Warnock’s side stubbornly holding out for the first half an hour or so, but I feel that a Chelsea breakthrough will be inevitable and after that Cardiff will stand little chance of getting anything from the game.