PRE-MATCH BRIEFING: STOKE CITY V CHELSEA

The Pre-Match Briefing squad has been enlarged this season with former Chelsea player Clive Walker joining club historian Rick Glanvill and club statistician Paul Dutton in previewing the season's opener…

TALKING POINTS
So here we are again. Chelsea start the season with a new manager for the fifth time in a decade, full of hope after a promising pre season under the young Andre Villas-Boas.

As has been noted elsewhere he is a long way short of being our youngest man in charge of the first team. The man with that honour, Jacky Robertson, Chelsea's original player-boss, had to recruit an entire playing staff in a few months before the 1905/06 season kicked off.

During his recent summer recruitment it's unlikely our new Portugueser had to contend with letters from wannabe footballers who were also happy to work on a turnstile if they didn't quite make the cut on the pitch. Even Robertson was bemused by such 'versatility'.

With the sun going down on transfers only at the end of the month, Andre has so far rebuilt cleverly, and for the future, mindful of the Barclays Premier League's 25-man squad restrictions. Twelve men have been removed, most notably Yury Zhirkov and Michael Mancienne.

Thibaut Courtois (a goalie, now on loan in Spain), Oriol Romeu (central midfielder), Lucas Piazon (attacking midfielder, arriving in January) and Romelu Lukaku (a centre-forward, currently finalising his transfer) are all prodigies, and are well below the important 21 age band. Slobodan Rajkovic, Chelsea's young Serbian central defender on loan at various clubs in recent years, requires a work permit.

Creativity against tight defences often looked absent from Chelsea's play last season, though, and there is still time to remedy that in the market, or for current players to fill the void.

The host side need to bolster too, having registered their lowest Premier League finish. They also have the distraction of the Europa League.

The Potters earned a place in Uefa's second string competition by reaching the FA Cup final and they have seen off Hadjuk Split of Croatia. Stoke have never previously won a European tie. They lost in the first round to Kaiserslautern in 1972 and to Ajax in 1974.

Adding to the idea of heightened ambition, the Boothen End of the Britannia Stadium is newly sponsored by Staffordshire University, whose alumni (honorary) include Tony Pulis.

Dr Pulis masterminded the first FA Cup final appearance but it was a disappointingly vapid performance against Manchester City at Wembley. Potters fan will be keen to expunge that high-profile splutter from their memories.

Chelsea have won the last nine opening day games and 11 of the last 12. The 1-1 draw against Newcastle in 2001 was the only occasion we failed to win all three points. Since the formation of the Premier League the Blues have had 12 wins, three defeats and four draws.

Barclays Premier League fixtures
Saturday
Blackburn v Wolverhampton 3pm
Fulham v Aston Villa 3pm
Liverpool v Sunderland 3pm
QPR v Bolton 3pm
Tottenham v Everton POSTPONED
Wigan v Norwich 3pm
Newcastle v Arsenal 5.30 - ESPN
Sunday
Stoke v Chelsea 1.30pm - Sky Sports
West Brom v Man Utd 4pm - Sky Sports
Monday
Man City v Swansea 8pm - Sky Sports

Click on tabs above for more briefing.

See Andre Villas-Boas's pre-match press conference via a live video stream direct from Cobham to your computer. Starts approximately 12.45pm Friday.

Stoke City v Chelsea