Head to Head: Kurt Zouma (Chelsea) vs John O’Shea (Sunderland)

In the wake of Jose Mourinho’s dismissal on Thursday; managerless Chelsea will be looking to record their first Premier League win since November 21 without the ‘Special One’ when the Blues hosts fellows strugglers Sunderland at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon (15:00).

Defender Kurt Zouma impressed the departed Portuguese boss enough to keep England international Gary Cahill out of the first-team squad recently, with the 21-year-old partnering captain John Terry at the heart of Chelsea’s leaky last line of defence.

Meanwhile opposing centre-half John O’Shea; who helped the Republic of Ireland qualify for next summer’s UEFA European Championships, has become a key player in manager Sam Allardyce’s resurgence at the Stadium of Light, helping Sunderland move to within two points of safety, despite sitting 19th in the table.

With Zouma and O’Shea set to come head-to-head this afternoon, here’s how both men match up so far this term…