Strike

Shouldn't happen. No way to fit it in February

Shocking...

Arsenal have a horror schedule around February/March. Should drop down then

yeah or Bertrand steps up. i know Jose hasn't used him much but i still believe Bertrand can take the left back spot. don't see why azpilicueta will play in his secondary position throughout

Azpilicueta will soon be first-choice right back

why special treatment? Oscar has done well so far. Not like we've missed Mata but he's a player of real quality. sees passes where others don't. i understand his frustration and would like to see the club sell him off to a foreign league for decent money rather than play him in games against Palace, Swansea etc.the reaction to being subbed is nothing like Mata so far at Chelsea. He has been professional right through this whole thing and I'm sure that was just a one-off. No point having a go at him for that

Rumours about Essien leaving suggests that a midfielder is coming in. Alonso won't leave in January i guess, so its either Guarin or Matic Ramires, Lampard, Guarin/Matic, Mikel (Chalobah, Luiz, Oscar) is enough options for the midfield positions

^ he may have played those minutes but he hasn't been treated at all like Azpi or Luiz. this is a sad situation in the club atm. i would sell him off in the summer for good money. then invest that on someone who fits the pressing system here

I'd go with Schwarzer; Azpi Kalas Luiz Cole Essien Ramires Mata Schurrle Traore Eto'o

yeah, may not have the motivation to do well.

Oscar gets booked for diving and the media is on him. The Januzaj kid at United has got yellow for diving in many games now, even yesterday. Not much has been made of that

Regarding the Oscar dive - Jose shouldn't defend that in the press. Clear dive. Oscar should be reminded not to resort to that again

Good win. Hazard's ability to get out of a tight situation is ridiculously good

Ok. We've won this.

Schurrle's setpieces have been poor

Shaw is off. Must be signing a Chelsea contract

Any streams?

Okay half. Few good counter-attacks. Not building any kind of pressure though. Hopefully, we nick this in the 2nd half

why? could be resting for the game

Happy New Year to everyone. Have a good one

the new tv deal isn't included either. not alarming add to that the stockpile of young players - Romeu, Marin, Kakuta, de Bruyne, Moses etc - who won't probably make it here and will turn a profit once they are sold

I thought Mourinho's return would be subdued when there were strong rumours especially in May but the moment he was announced as the manager for real, the internet exploded. His first presser had an unreal number of people listening in on the live feed. Easily the best Chelsea moment of the year

Happy New Year to everyone here. Chelsea travel to Southampton on New Year's Day 2014 in good spirits after the 2-1 home win against Liverpool. The win on Sunday took Chelsea to 3rd in the table on 40 points and gave much needed momentum to Chelsea's title challenge. Southampton meanwhile are currently going through a lean spell after a good start to the season. The Saints have won just 1 of their last 8 matches and that includes the last time these two sides met exactly a month ago at Stamford Bridge. Southampton made a flying start in that game taking the lead inside 13 seconds through Jay Rodriguez but the Blues recovered in the 2nd half to eventually run out 3-1 winners. Date/Time: Wednesday 1 January 2014, 15:00 GMT, 10:00 EST, 23:00 HKT Venue: St Mary's Stadium, Southampton, UK About the Opposition: Southampton made their best ever start to a Premier League campaign . Before travelling to Stamford Bridge last month, Southampton were just 2 points and 2 places below Chelsea but a difficult December period has seen a 13-point gap open up between the two sides. The Saints are still in the top 10 and manager Mauricio Pochettino will not be too concerned with their recent form given the difficult nature of those games. Latest Meetings: The most recent meeting ended with a 3-1 win to Chelsea but Southampton took 4 points in meetings between the sides last season. Rickie Lambert inspired Southampton to a 2-1 win when they last played at St. Mary's. In the other fixture, Southampton came back from 2 goals down to take a deserved point from Stamford Bridge. These two sides also met in the FA Cup last season when Chelsea won comfortably 5-1. Recent form Southampton: LDDLWL Chelsea: WWLDWW Team News Southampton: Striker Pablo Daniel Osvaldo (illness) will be monitored ahead of the game, but Pochettino has ruled out both Victor Wanyama (fractured leg) and Artur Boruc (hand). Morgan Schneiderlin returns from suspension while Nathaniel Clyne could also feature in defence Chelsea: David Luiz is suspended having picked up his 5th booking of the season against Liverpool. Ramires should take his place having missed the Liverpool game through suspension. Frank Lampard came off at half-time on Sunday with a thigh problem and will miss this game while Ivanovic is also a doubt with a lateral ligament injury. Ryan Bertrand and Marco van Ginkel are the other absentees Possible Lineups Southampton: Davis; Clyne Lovren Fonte Shaw; Schneiderlin Cork Ward-Prowse; Lallana Rodriguez; Lambert Chelsea: Cech; Azpilicueta Cahill Terry Cole; Mikel Ramires Oscar; Hazard Schurrle; Torres Stats and Facts - Southampton haven't won at home since the 4-1 win over Hull on November 9th - Jay Rodriguez has opened the scoring in 3 of those 4 matches and has 6 goals in his last 7 games, while John Terry has netted in each of the last two meetings between the sides - Southampton started the season with six clean sheets in their opening nine games, but have kept just one in 10 matches since, conceding 17 goals - 37% of the goals Chelsea have conceded this season have come from set-pieces, the highest proportion in the Premier League - No Chelsea striker scored an away goal in the Premier League in 2013 - Petr Cech's next cleansheet will equal Peter Bonetti's club record of 208 - Chelsea have gained 14 points from losing positions this season, the most in the Premier League Odds (via Skybet) Home Win Draw Away Win Southampton 3/1 Draw 23/10 Chelsea 1/1 Coverage United Kingdom: BBC Radio 5 Live, BT Sport 1, BBC One United States: NBC Sports Network Australia: Fox Sports 3 Australia Asia: Fox/Star Sports Visit Click Here To View Article.

Cech Azpi Cahill Terry Cole Mikel Ramires Schurrle Oscar Hazard Torres

Massive respect for yesterday