Good afternoon and welcome to Sports Mole's live text commentary of Chelsea's Premier League encounter with Stoke City at Stamford Bridge.
Today's match sees two of the league's four remaining unbeaten sides square off, although the Blues have had the better start to the season with three wins and a draw taking them to the top of the table.
Meanwhile, Stoke have drawn all four of their opening matches of the campaign.
Please note that kickoff is due to start at 3pm.
4.56pmAnyway, that's all from me for today. Thanks again for your company and we hope to see you soon. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
4.55pmReferee Michael Oliver blows the final whistle and Chelsea have the win, beating Stoke City 1-0 thanks to Ashley Cole's 84th-minute goal. It wasn't pretty but it's the three points that count and the Blues remain top of the league. Stoke will be disappointed to come away with nothing following what was a dogged display.
90+4minFULL TIME: Chelsea 1-0 Stoke
90+3minWe're inside the final minute...
90+2minNeedless to say, Tony Pulis is spitting feathers.
90+1minBOOKING! Walters does excellenty to break but Luiz flies in with a reckless challenge and rightly goes into the book for it. The Stoke players are furious.
90minWe'll have four minutes of added time here at Stamford Bridge.
88minSUBSTITUTION: Juan Mata gets a standing ovation as he comes off and it's John Terry on to replace him.
87minCHANCE! Chelsea nearly get a second instantly as Mata plays Moses through on goal, but the winger's shot is snuffed out by a last-ditch tackle from Shawcross.
86minYou have to feel for Stoke. They've defended magnificently all day and find themselves staring at defeat.
85minIt's there! A neat passing move sees the ball played through to Mata who flicks a delightful backheel into the path of Ashley Cole who dinks home only his second goal in two years.
84minGOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Stoke (Cole)
83minSome Chelsea fans are starting to file out now...
80minSUBSTITUTION: Jon Obi Mikel is the latest player off for Chelsea and is replaced by Frank Lampard. Can the veteran make the breakthrough in the final 10 minutes?
79minJones gets above everyone in the Chelsea area only to head straight at Cech.
77minCHANCE! Mikel, of all people, is played in by Torres on the right but Shawcross blocks the shot from the midfielder before Begovic jumps to gather.
76minIt's an 11th corner for Chelsea an again it comes to nothing as Begovic collects.
75minSUBSTITUTION: Peter Crouch comes off for Stoke and on in his place is Kenwyne Jones.
73minTorres gets the ball on the edge of the box but can't pick his way through the defence. He's looked off again today.
70minCHANCE! Oscar performs a similar turn to the one that led to his second goal against Juventus on Wednesday but this time the resulting shot goes narrowly wide of Begovic's right post.
68minHalf chance for the Blues there as the ball almost bounces through to Oscar. The Brazilian tries to win the ball but Begovic get to it first.
66minChelsea are still struggling to find a way through here with just under 25 minutes to play.
64minSUBSTITUTION: Charlie Adam is off for Stoke and is replaced by Michael Owen. Bold move from the visitors.
63minPenalty appeals again from Ivanovic as he goes down under the challenge of Kightly. Nothing doing though.
62minSUBSTITUTION: Eden Hazard comes off for Chelsea and is replaced by Victor Moses, who is making his home debut for the club following his �9m move from Wigan.
60minCHANCE! It's a great opportunity for Stoke on the break but Adam wastes it with a poor shot that he drags wide of the goal.
59minRamires is treading a fine line here as he brings down Adam. The midfielder has got away with a couple of others today.
57minCrouch tries something similar to his wonder goal against Manchester City last season with a speculative volley on the turn from the edge of the box. This one goes well over.
56minStoke boss Tony Pulis shakes his head on the touchline. He feels that Ivanovic caught Kightly in the face there. Not too sure about that one.
54minCHANCE! It's a great delivery from Adam but Crouch just can't reach the ball to poke it home.
53minCorner for Stoke now as Adam's ambitious effort comes off Cahill.
52minCHANCE! It's Chelsea on the attack again as Ivanovic tees up Mata on the edge of the area. However, the Spaniard shanks his shot high and wide. Better from the Blues.
51minCHANCE! Oscar is certainly fired up now as his left-footed drive is palmed away by Begovic.
50minBOOKING! Oscar is involved again as he takes a tumble in the area but is shown a yellow card for diving. Boos ring out around the Bridge but it would have been harsh on Stoke if that had been given.
49minOscar goes down under the forceful challenge of Wilson on the byline but referee Michael Oliver gives the goal kick. Needless to say the Chelsea fans aren't happy.
47minSomething of a flat start to this second period as Chelsea knock the ball around at the back.
46minThere have been no changes to either side during the break.
4.02pmHere we go then, it'll be Stoke to get this second half started.
4.01pmThe players are back out at the Bridge as we wait for this second half to get underway.
3.56pmThe early kick off today saw Everton travel to Wales to take on Swansea City and it was a great day for the Toffees as they came away 3-0 winners. You can read our match report from the Liberty Stadium here.
3.54pmPREMIER LEAGUE HALF-TIME SCORES:
Southampton 0-1 Aston Villa
West Brom 0-0 Reading
West Ham 0-1 Sunderland
Wigan 0-1 Fulham
Southampton 0-1 Aston Villa
West Brom 0-0 Reading
West Ham 0-1 Sunderland
Wigan 0-1 Fulham
3.51pmAnyway, the half-time whistles have gone in the Premier League matches across the country so we'll now bring you the scores from those games.
3.48pmThe hosts enjoyed much of the possession in that half but it was the visitors who had the best chance to open the scoring. Jonathan Walters nearly broke the deadlock after 20 minutes but his close-range header came back off the crossbar.
3.47pmIt's goalless at the break here at Stamford Bridge between Chelsea and Stoke.
45+1minHALF TIME: Chelsea 0-0 Stoke
45minWe'll have one minute of added time...
44minCHANCE! Ivanovic comes forward again and tries to get his shot away on the angle. However he's met by Huth and the ball goes out for a corner which is eventually wasted.
42minIt's all a little too neat from the Blues at the moment and Stoke are mopping up any threat by sheer brute force.
40minChelsea desperately try to unlock the Stoke defence but they can't. Mata, Hazard and Torres are all buzzing around the penalty area to no avail.
38minCHANCE! A good move from Stoke releases Cameron on the right whose cross is met by the head of Kightly, Cech can only fumble but Chelsea manage to hack the ball away. Dangerous times
36minBig cheers from the Chelsea crowd now as 'Lamps' and 'JT' warm up on the touchline.
35minA somewhat comical moment there as the diminutive Oscar is obstructed by the towering Huth. Men against boys.
33minThere's one or two tasty tackles flying in now from both sides.
32minCHANCE! Hazard is played in on the left side but his attempted curler meekly rolls out for a goal kick.
29minFor all of their possession you have to say that Chelsea aren't really doing much with it.
28minA half-chance for Chelsea there as Luiz lines up a free kick from all of 35 yards. The Brazilian gives the ball a mighty whack which goes straight into Begovic's hands.
26minCHANCE! Mata flicks a neat ball over the top to Torres but the Spaniard scuffs hit shot at Begovic. He was unmarked there but couldn't quite make a decent connection with the ball.
24minLooking at replays of that Ivanovic incident and the Serbian took a clear tumble. He's lucky not to have picked up a yellow card for simulation there.
24minBOOKING! Charlie Adam is the first man to go in the baook for a cynical tug on Ramires.
23minBig appeals for a penalty from Chelsea as Ivanovic goes to ground in the area under pressure from a number of Stoke defenders. Nothing given though!
22minChelsea go straight up the other end and win their sixth corner of the match. It's played short to Mata who crosses to Torres but the Stoke defence stand firm to snuff out the danger.
21minThat would have been unexpected to say the least if that had gone in.
20minOFF THE BAR! Close for Stoke! Whelan whips the ball in and Walters gets a free header which crashes back off the bar. The Chelsea defence were nowhere to be found there.
18minCole has a speculative effort from all of 25 yards but the ball flies harmlessly wide. As expected.
17minIt's another poor delivery from Oscar as Whelan heads the ball away at the near post.
15minChelsea have had 67% of possession in this opening 15 minutes. And now they have another corner.
14minOscar fires it in but Begovic easily gathers.
13minChelsea have a free kick on the left now as Adam handles. This one should be whipped into the heart of the Stoke defence.
12minThere's a sense of anticipation as Oscar picks up the ball from 25 yards but his shot is blocked. However, Chelsea get another corner though it agains comes to nothing.
10minIvanovic suddenly finds himself in the Stoke area and tries to get on the end of Hazard's dinked pass, but the ball is ferried out by the visiting defence.
9minStoke enjoy some possession in their half before it gets lumped up to Crouch. However, the referee's whistle goes for what appears to be a foul from the lanky forward on Cahill.
7minTorres shows a trademark turn of pace in the box but Stoke get the ball out for a corner. The striker gets his head to the ball only for it to fly over the crossbar. The ball that is, not his head.
5minChelsea break quickly from the corner but Stoke get bodies back to defend. It's been a bbusy opening 5 minutes here at Stamford Bridge.
4minKightly has Stoke's first effort on goal but it comes off Luiz and it's a corner.
3minChelsea fail to make anything of the second corner but they have made their intentions very clear here.
2minStoke just about deal with the pressure but the ball goes out for another corner.
1minChelsea have a corner inside the first minute...
3.00pmRight then, it'll be Chelsea to get us underway. Here we go!
2.57pmIt's a wonderfully sunny day in the capital as the players make their way out onto the pitch.
2.56pmThe players are in the tunnel and are ready to go...
2.54pmHowever, let's not forget that Stoke earned a 1-1 draw with champions Manchester City last weekend, so anything can happen.
2.52pmOkay, prediction time. If I had money to put on a bet I'd gor for a 2-0 Chelsea win today. Stoke are guaranteed to defend their socks off, but the Blues will be looking to make amends for giving away a two-goal lead against Juventus in midweek.
2.48pmJust under 10 minutes until kick off!
2.41pmYou'll have to go back to October 1996 for the last time that Stoke won away at Chelsea. That was the second leg of their second-round tie in the League Cup. The Potters came out 1-0 winners in the night and to earn themselves a 1-0 aggregate victory.
2.37pmWhat Stoke will certainly be looking to avoid today is a repeat of their 7-0 mauling at the Bridge back in April 2010. Salomon Kalou bagged himself a hat-trick that day, while Frank Lampard (2), Florent Malouda and Daniel Sturridge were also on the scoresheet.
2.33pmLooking back to last season and there was very little to seperate these two teams across both of their matches. They came up against each other on the opening weekend of the campaign and ended sharing the spoils in a 0-0 draw. They met again in March as the Blues gave Roberto Di Matteo a 1-0 win in what was the Italian's first game in charge of the club following the sacking of Andre Villas-Boas.
2.30pmTruth be told that's not a bad looking bench for Stoke, all things considered. Plenty of experience there if they need it.
2.26pmStoke subs: Sorensen, Jones, Owen, Whitehead, Upson, Etherington, Shotton
2.26pmStoke: Begovic; Cameron, Huth, Shawcross, Wilson; Kightly, Whelan, Adam, N?Zonzi; Walters, Crouch
2.25pmThe Stoke team news is now in and I can tell you now that Michael Owen is on the bench again.
2.21pmTrawling through the history books, you have to say that Stoke are likely to have their work cut out this afternoon. Since their return to the top flight four years ago, they have failed to pick up a single point at Stamford Bridge. In that time they've scored just the one goal but have conceded a whopping 12 times.
2.17pmWe'll bring you Stoke's team news as and when we get it.
2.14pmChelsea subs: Turnbull, Azpilicueta, Terry, Bertram, Romeu, Lampard, Moses
2.13pmSo, John Terry and Frank Lampard are on the bench for today's match. Interesting. Meanwhile, Oscar makes his Premier League debut for the Blues following his stellar showing against Juventus on Wednesday.
2.12pmChelsea: Cech; Ivanovic, Luiz, Cahill, Cole; Ramires, Mikel; Mata, Oscar, Hazard; Torres
2.11pmTeam news is in for Chelsea!...
2.09pmHowever, Stoke have managed to notch up only eight wins on Chelsea's turf since they first met in 1922. I don't quite remember that far back.
2.07pmSomething's gotta give, right? Well, The Blues have won 23 of their 42 encounters at the Bridge against the Potters, while there have been 11 draws.
2.04pmToday's match in the capital sees two of the league's remaining four unbeaten sides go face to face.
2.02pmHello there and a warm Sports Mole welcome to you from today's Premier League match between Chelsea and Stoke at Stamford Bridge.
Written by
Jack Prescott
Jack Prescott
