Chelsea face a must win game in their hunt for Champions League football tonight when they host already-relegated Norwich.
Leicester and Manchester United have both dropped points in the top four race recently and Chelsea know they can not afford to do the same.
The Blues suffered a shock 3-0 defeat at Sheffield United last time out but are still hanging on to third in the top-flight table.
They welcome Norwich to Stamford Bridge this evening and nothing but a win will do for Frank Lampard and co.
The Canaries’ heavy defeat to West Ham over the weekend confirmed their return to the Championship.
Chelsea beat Norwich in a thrilling 3-2 win at Carrow Road in August thanks to Tammy Abraham’s late strike.
talkSPORT will bring you exclusive coverage from Stamford Bridge tonight to see if Chelsea can win again or if Norwich can pull off a shock.
Chelsea vs Norwich: How to listen
talkSPORT will have full, exclusive coverage of the match with kick-off set for 8:15pm.
Fans will have the option to listen to the game with or without crowd noise, so you can choose whichever way suits you best.
Hugh Woozencroft will be your host while Nigel Adderley and David Connolly will be on commentary duty – to listen in click on one of the radio players below.
Listen to talkSPORT commentary with crowd noise
Listen to talkSPORT commentary without crowd noise (available from kick-off time)
Here’s the other ways you can listen to our exclusive radio coverage…
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Danny Murphy believes Chelsea can challenge for the Premier League title next season IF they sign a ‘world class’ centre-back
Chelsea vs Norwich: Team news
N’Golo Kante will miss the Premier League clash due to a hamstring injury.
The France midfielder remains sidelined for tonight’s encounter, but could be fit for Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United.
Andreas Christensen came off at half-time in the 3-0 loss at Sheffield United, but has shaken off a knock.
Norwich will be without Ondrej Duda at Stamford Bridge after he was given permission to return to his parent club Hertha Berlin.
The Slovakian was an unused substitute during Saturday’s 4-0 defeat to West Ham, which confirmed the Canaries’ relegation and as a result the loanee has been allowed to go back to Germany early.
They will also be without Moritz Leitner plus defenders Grant Hanley, Christoph Zimmermann and Sam Byram.
Chelsea provisional squad: Arrizabalaga, James, Christensen, Zouma, Azpilicueta, Jorginho, Barkley, Mount, William, Pulisic, Abraham, Caballero, Rudiger, Alonso, Kovacic, Bate, Loftus-Cheek, Hudson-Odoi, Giroud, Batshuayi.
Norwich provisional squad: Krul, Aarons, Godfrey, Klose, Lewis, Tettey, Cantwell, McLean, Vrancic, Buendia, Hernandez, Drmic, Pukki, McGovern, Trybull, Rupp, Stiepermann, Martin, Idah.
Chelsea vs Norwich: Match stats
- Chelsea are unbeaten in their last 16 meetings with Norwich in all competitions (W11 D5), since a 0-3 loss in December 1994.
- After winning their first two Premier League away games against Chelsea (September 1992 and October 1993), Norwich are winless in their last six league visits to Stamford Bridge (D1 L5).
- Last time out versus Sheffield United, Chelsea lost by a three-goal margin for only the second time in the Premier League this season (also 0-4 vs Man Utd in August). They’ve only lost consecutive Premier League games by a three-goal margin on two previous occasions (February 2018 and October 1995).
- Chelsea have won their last four Premier League matches at Stamford Bridge, scoring at least two goals in each victory. The Blues last won five consecutively at home in the Premier League in December 2017, during a run of seven wins under Antonio Conte.
- This is the sixth time a side is facing Chelsea in their first Premier League match following relegation – Chelsea have won all previous five, most recently against Cardiff in 2013-14.
- Norwich have lost 24 Premier League games this season – they’ve never lost more in a league campaign in their history.
- Norwich are currently on a run of seven consecutive Premier League defeats – they’ve never lost eight consecutive league games in their history.
- Norwich have failed to score in a league-high 17 Premier League games this season, with 11 of these coming away from home (also a league-high). The Canaries have netted just 26 Premier League goals, and just seven away from home this season – both league-low figures.
- Chelsea’s Willian has found the back of the net in each of his last three Premier League appearances at Stamford Bridge, including in both such matches since the restart. Indeed, the last Chelsea player to score in four consecutive home league appearances was Diego Costa in January 2015.
- Norwich’s Teemu Pukki has failed to score in each of his last 11 Premier League matches, going 780 minutes since his last strike in the competition (vs Tottenham in January).
