John Hollins backs Swansea to claim Chelsea scalp

Chelsea eased to a 4-1 home win over Swansea in September

Chelsea will be the next big scalp claimed by Swansea City, according to former Swans boss John Hollins.

Swansea beat Arsenal in their last Premier League match at the Liberty Stadium and Hollins predicts Chelsea will suffer the same fate on Tuesday.

"They've got good belief and their home record is excellent," said Hollins, who also managed Chelsea from 1985 to 1988.

"I think they'll take on Chelsea and I think they will beat them. I really do think they've got the ammunition."

With just the one home blemish to their name this season, a 1-0 defeat to Manchester United, Swansea have lost two fewer matches on their own patch than Chelsea.

A home tally of 20 points from a possible 33 is just two short of Chelsea's total at Stamford Bridge.

Andre Villas-Boas's side proved a class apart when they welcomed the Swans to the Bridge in late September, easing to a 4-1 victory despite playing more than half the match with 10 men following the dismissal of Fernando Torres.

But Hollins believes that there is a vulnerability about Chelsea at present, and feels Swansea will expose their defensive frailty.

"Chelsea better watch out when they come down to Swansea," he told BBC Wales Sport.

"They might think they can knock it about and move them about, but Swansea have got a rhythm.

"Chelsea will try to attack, but it's defensively they have a problem."

The visitors will be without captain John Terry because of a knee injury, opening the door for Gary Cahill to make his debut folllowing his £7m move from Bolton Wanderers.

But Hollins sees that as further encouragement for Swansea, pointing out: "Communication at the back will be a problem for Chelsea.

"If David Luiz plays alongside Cahill, he'll have to tell him where to go and what to do because you can't have Luiz going where he wants.

"With Terry not playing, there's certainly an opportunity for Danny Graham to manoeuvre a good opening. And with Nathan Dyer and Scott Sinclair attacking, I think it's looking good for Swansea."

Having conceded just six goals at the Liberty Stadium to date in their first Premier League season, Swansea can boast the joint-best home defensive record.

With Didier Drogba away on international duty, Fernando Torres is set to shoulder much of the responsibility to unlock that solid Swansea back four.

But the Spaniard has not scored a Premier League goal since opening the scoring against Swansea in September's victory - a barren run of 10 games.

"Sometimes you see him so disheartened after 25 or 30 minutes," added Hollins, "and, if Swansea can do that to him, I think Chelsea will look to replace him in the second half.

"I feel sorry for Torres, but he's not getting the sort of ball he should be getting.

"He needs slide balls to get onto. That's what he wants and that's when he's dangerous."