Trai Hume of Sunderland FC scores
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Chelsea will have revenge on their mind when they face Sunderland at the Stadium of Light this weekend.
In the final game of last season, Chelsea were beaten 2-1 by Sunderland. In the reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge, they also lost by the same scoreline.
Xabi Alonso’s side will be looking to get payback. Three players, in particular, will be seeking retribution after what happened at the end of the 2025/26 campaign.
Romeo Lavia or Alex Scott? Who would Moises Caicedo rather start alongside and why?
Lavia please he believably a better option
I would really, really like to see Scott play alongside Caicedo but maybe that’s a grass is always greener approach.
If it was a level playing field, Lavia. But given his fitness issues, it's got be Scott regularly? Nice headache to have!
Malo Gusto
With the form that he is in, Josh Acheampong could be set to start against Sunderland, which means Malo Gusto may have to settle for the bench once again. Acheampong has been playing at right-back recently, leaving no space for Gusto in the team.
If Gusto does start or eventually comes on, he will be desperate to put in a much better performance against the Black Cats than last time. In that 2-1 loss, the Frenchman scored an own goal and also made one error that led to goal.
Wesley Fofana
Somehow, one Chelsea player actually had a worse game than Gusto: Wesley Fofana! The central defender was sent off at the Stadium of Light and was handed a 5.1 match rating by Sofascore, the lowest in the Chelsea team.
Fofana finished the match without making a single tackle. Right now, Chelsea fans are not happy with Fofana, so he really needs to put in a top performance this weekend.
READ MORE:The Romeo Lavia moment Chelsea’s cameras missed after Morgan Rogers scored v Man United
Jorrel Hato
Jorrel Hato could miss the game because of injury, but the Dutchman is another one who will want to do well against Sunderland if he plays. Last time, Sofascore gave him a match rating of 5.8, which was the second lowest after Fofana.
Like Fofana, Hato also failed to make a single tackle, while he made one error that led to goal. Defensively, it was a horror show for Chelsea at the Stadium of Light last season. Let us hope it is a different story this time around.