Chelsea face Black Cats test in Capital One Cup

[Jase 43,479]

Jose Mourinho will go head-to-head against a former Blues player in Gus Poyet as Chelsea will travel to the Stadium of Light to face Sunderland on 17th December with the game set to be broadcasted on Sky Sports at 7.45pm UK time in the Capital One Cup quarter finals. The draw was made last week and the Blues were given a tie against either Sunderland or Southampton as the game did not take place till yesterday due to police concern over the Black Cats and their arch nemesis in Newcastle’s match taking place at the same time and place. Incidentally, Chelsea will face the same opponent twice and in the same stadium due to their league meeting between the two scheduled in early December.

In Poyet’s only fourth game in charge of the club, Sunderland dispatched a much changed Southampton side 2-1 at the Stadium of Light yesterday with goals from Phil Bardsley and Sebastian Larsson sealing a morale boosting win in a tumultuous season for them so far. On the other hand, Chelsea brushed aside London rivals Arsenal 2-0 with consummate ease last Tuesday - despite 10 changes were made to the starting XI - as goals from the Spanish duo of Cesar Azpilicueta and Juan Mata ensured Mourinho’s men participation in this round.

Incredibly, the two sides will meet each other for first time since 1992 in domestic cup competitions and the history do not favor Chelsea. In four cup meetings, the Blues have never won against Sunderland with three of them ending in defeats and the last time this tie took place in this particular competition was further back in 1985 in the semi-finals stage. The Black Cats then won the first leg 2-0 at home before claiming the same result but with a narrower scoreline in a 3-2 away win to seal a 5-2 triumph on aggregate.

However if recent history is anything to go by, then the Blues will be confident on claiming their first win over the counterparts in domestic cup competitions. Mourinho’s men have won 18 out of their last 19 Premier League matches against Sunderland with only one blip suffered during the run which ended in a defeat in November 2010. This clash will also offer a trip down memory lane especially for Gus Poyet as he scored this spectacular goal during his playing days for Chelsea against, ironically, his new and current charges.

The other three quarter final ties will see Manchester City travel to the only non-Premier League side left in this competition in Leicester City while their city rivals Manchester United will also be on their travels as they head to the Britannia Stadium to face Stoke and Andre Villas-Boas’s Tottenham will host West Ham in a London derby at White Hart Lane with Sam Allardyce’s side hoping to repeat their stunning 3-0 win over the same rivals. Should the favorites - Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham - win their respective tie, then a Manchester as well as London derby may well take place in mouthwatering clashes in the semi finals.

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[bushman 2,043]

Surprised to see Sunderland advanced. Oh well, another win for Chelsea, then.

[kellzfresh 7,226]

Happy we didnt get southampton, nice to see gus poyet coming against us

[CHOULO19 24,332]

No surprise at all that Sunderland won since Southampton played mostly their B team. Good result for us.

[Special Juan 27,215]

Promised by boy we are going to this, he is massively excited.

UTC!!!

[patrick 1]

Nic one

[LeonDavis23 371]

forgot about this one with all the ucl stuff