Stoke City play host to league leaders Chelsea at the Britannia Stadium, as the Potters look to repeat last December’s victory over the Blues.
Stoke manager Mark Hughes says Chelsea are capable of winning all four of the major competitions they are competing in during 2015.
Hughes’s side will ensure Chelsea head into Christmas behind Premier League champions Manchester City in the standings if they beat the Blues on Monday, yet he has lavished praise on Jose Mourinho’s side ahead of his battle with the title favourites.
“Nobody else has done it, but they’ve got the potential to do it,” stated Hughes, as he was asked by reporters about Chelsea’s bid to win what would be an unprecedented quadruple of trophies.
“I would have to say yes, they are strong enough. There will be some very good teams who will try and stand in the way but I don’t think where we are sat today you could argue that they’ve got no chance because that would be incorrect.
“They have a chance, a better chance than most teams. The talk of winning every trophy, maybe in-house they believe that themselves. It wouldn’t surprise me if they did.
“Once they get to a point in the season, around March or April, and if they are still in all competitions, having probably won the League Cup, then they will feel it’s a real option for them, a real possibility.”
Newcastle’s success in inflicting Chelsea’s first defeat of the season earlier this month confirmed Mourinho’s side are not invincible and Hughes hopes Stoke can draw inspiration from that upset result as he welcomes his former club to the Britannia Stadium.
“They are not unbeatable as has been proved, so we fancy our chances against anybody. We’ve proved in the past we can make it difficult for teams, certainly here, so we will see where it takes us,” added Hughes.
“I’ve heard a lot of people say we bullied Arsenal, that wasn’t the case, it was more the football we played. I suppose we will always be labeled with that for any number of seasons following this one so we have to accept that, but on the day it was more about our footballing performance than anything else.
“We are more than capable, we’ve got a good team, good ability, good players, creative players — we can cause them problems. We can give them a game and I think Chelsea know that.”