West Bromwich Albion vs Chelsea. Premier League.
The HawthornsAttendance23,256.
Sunday 23 August 2015 22:40, UK
Reigning champions Chelsea are still looking to win their first game of the new Premier League season when they play West Bromwich Albion on Super Sunday.
Jose Mourinho's side travel to the Hawthorns on the back of a heavy 3-0 defeat to Manchester City and a 2-2 draw with Swansea City on the opening day.
New signings Pedro and Baba Rahman could make their debut for Chelsea while West Brom's record signing Salomon Rondon is expected to make his home bow.
Tony Pulis' side are without a win this season having draw their last game 0-0 with Watford and losing 3-0 against Manchester City in their first match.
Chelsea have only ever lost back-to-back games once under Mourinho, in 2006 after they had already secured the league title.
Team news
Saido Berahino is set to face Chelsea despite the ongoing speculation over his West Brom future.
The Baggies turned down a bid from Tottenham for the striker this week but boss Tony Pulis is confident he is in the right frame of mind.
Federico Fazio is close to joining from Tottenham but needs to be registered in time while Serge Gnabry is match fit so could make his debut.
Pedro and Rahman could make their Chelsea debuts on Super Sunday after completing moves to the Premier League champions this week.
Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois will return from a one-match ban in place of Asmir Begovic, while captain John Terry is likely to start in defence despite being substituted at half-time in last week's loss at Manchester City.
Victor Moses and Oscar are out with undisclosed injuries.
Stats
West Brom defeated Chelsea 3-0 at home last season; the joint-heaviest defeat Mourinho has ever suffered in the Premier League.
No team has defeated WBA more often in the Premier League than Chelsea (13 wins, level with Arsenal).
No team has won the top-flight title after gaining exactly one point from their opening two games since Liverpool in 1981-82.
Jose Mourinho's last six Premier League defeats have come against a manager who has a surname starting in P (Pulis, Poyet, Pardew, Pochettino, Pulis, Pellegrini).
Tony Pulis has won two Premier League games against Mourinho - no manager has won three Premier League games against the Portuguese.
Merson's prediction
Chelsea have to win this game. If City win at Everton and Chelsea lose then it's all over. People will say, 'don't be silly, it's only three games into the season', but the difference will be eight points.
It's a must-win game for Chelsea. There's no way West Brom will be as open as they were against Man City but I think Chelsea will get the win.
Pedro is a massive signing for them and they have to get the season started this weekend. I still think they will be there or thereabouts at the end of the season.
PAUL PREDICTS: 0-2 (6/1 with Sky Bet)
Betting
Sky Bet make Chelsea odds-on favourites to bounce back from their defeat to Manchester City with victory over 9/2 shots West Brom with the draw available at 13/5. Chelsea haven't beaten the Baggies or scored more than one goal on their last four visits to The Hawthorns and lost this fixture 3-0 last year, an 80/1 shot this time. There has been a red card in the last two Premier League fixtures between the sides and its 9/4 for that trend to continue and 7/2 for it to be shown in the second half.
Watch West Brom v Chelsea on Super Sunday, 12:30pm, Sky Sports 1 HD
