Strike

Worked his socks off. Different player this year. As Tomo said, the rotation is helping a lot

dp

everyone worked their ass off. ivanovic in particular was a rock at the back 3 points. 2nd place. couldn't be happier

Essien off Willian on

only way we'll see Azpilicueta at RB i think. a suspension for Ivan

this is a period in the season that our deep squad will be handy. Need to win the next few games before we face Arsenal Swansea Liverpool around Christmas

I think this month they'll slip up. They don't have a deep squad. With a game every few days now, they'll eventually drop points One injury to Giroud will finish their season

Arsenal lead. Doesn't look good

Oscar over Mata again for me. Start Mata against Sunderland and Crystal Palace

Chelsea face Southampton in the Premier League looking to keep the pressure on at the top of the table as the traditionally busy December period kicks in. Chelsea will play 9 games across 3 competitions during the month starting with the home game against high-flying Southampton on Sunday afternoon. It has not been smooth sailing for the Blues' this season. In their last home game, West Brom came close to ending Jose Mourinho's 65-game unbeaten home record before an injury time Eden Hazard penalty saw Chelsea escape with a draw. More recently, Chelsea suffered a European loss to Basel when Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah jumped the Chelsea defence to slot home the winner late on in the game. Mourinho's 60% win percentage in his second spell is the lowest he's enjoyed since he was at Leiria 11 years ago. While Chelsea have produced good performances on occasion this season, they've lacked the consistency that defined Mourinho's first spell in charge. It is only 3 months into the season and Jose is still experimenting with his lineup, evidenced by his selection of the defensive midfielder John Obi Mikel in place of the Brazilian attacking midfielder Willian in the 3-0 win over West Ham last weekend. The same line-up however, with Willian instead of Hazard, contrived to lose the game against Basel. Date/Time: Sunday, 1 December 2013, 16:10 GMT, 11:10 EST, 00:10 HKT (Monday morning) Venue: Stamford Bridge, London, UK About the Opposition: Southampton have been this season's surprise package so far. This is their best ever start to a Premier League campaign. At this stage last season, they were 19th with 8 points. Their solid defence has played a big role in their emergence this season. Infact, they have the best defensive record in the League conceding just 7 goals. They have lost only 2 games all season with the loss to Arsenal last weekend ending an 8-game unbeaten run. The Saints sit just 2 points and 2 places behind Chelsea in the table and will be looking for another major scalp having already won at Anfield and drawn at Old Trafford this sesaon Latest Meetings: Rickie Lambert inspired Southampton to a 2-1 win over Chelsea, the last time these two sides met although it's worth noting that Chelsea rested several players with the FA Cup quarter final against Manchester United to be played in 2 days. In the reverse 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 ran out comfortable winners in a 5-1 drubbing. Recent Form Chelsea: WLDWL Southampton: DWDWL Team News Chelsea: Mourinho is expected to ring the changes after he blamed 'tiredness' for Chelsea's poor performance against Basel in midweek. Juan Mata and Andre Schurrle could be in contention to start this weekend. Samuel Eto'o is ruled out for 2 weeks after being stretchered off against Basel while David Luiz is expected to miss out again with a knee problem. The good news is that Luiz is back in training and will most likely be ready for the midweek trip to Sunderland. Marco van Ginkel is the only other absentee. Southampton: Former Blue Jack Cork is fit for Southampton after he missed the game against Arsenal with an ankle problem. Uruguayan midfielder Gaston Ramirez is also back in contention after missing that match due to a late return from international duty. Defender Dejan Lovren should also return after recovering from a sickness bug There are concerns over the fitness of Luke Shaw who was forced off at half-time last week with a thigh injury Possible Starting Lineups Chelsea: Cech; Ivanovic Cahill Terry Cole; Mikel Ramires; Oscar Schurrle Hazard; Torres Southampton: Boruc; Clyne Lovren Fonte Fox; Wanyama Schneiderlein Ward-Prowse; Lallana Rodriguez; Lambert Stats and Facts - Southampton have scored six headed goals in the Barclays Premier League, the joint-most in the top flight along with Liverpool - Pochettino has used the joint fewest players so far this season: 19 - Southampton have conceded just seven goals in their last 11 Premier League away matches - Saints have won all six league matches this season in which they opened the scoring - Chelsea have won 39 of the last 42 Barclays Premier League points on offer at Stamford Bridge - Chelsea have scored eight goals in the final 15 minutes of matches, more than any other team in the top flight this season - Chelsea are unbeaten in their Premier League matches immediately following a Champions League fixture this season (W3, D1) Odds Chelsea win: 11/20 Southampton win: 5/1 Draw: 29/10 Coverage United Kingdom: Sky Sports 1 United States: NBC Sports Network Australia: Fox Sports 1 Middle East: Al Jazeera Sport India: Star Sports 4 Brazil: ESPN Brazil If you happen to be busy and cannot catch the game live, follow TalkChelsea on Twitter as it would provide live match updates on the action

yeah. We are always extremely competitive in cups. Just know how to hang in there even if things aren't going especially well. I can't remember the team catapulting completely in a big knockout game in a while. even last year with a thin squad, the team managed to get to the semi-final stage in both domestic competitions and won the Europa to boot. I remember only 2011 when the club failed to reach the later stages of tournaments

England has made a mockery of itself in Europe. Chelsea included. Chelsea, City and United were all dumped out in the group stages since 2010. City even finished bottom once. Arsenal while qualifying for the knockout stages, hasn't made any impact whatsoever there. I'd say, there are about 8-9 teams that can defeat the top English team now as opposed to 3-4 in 2008. So yeah, the top teams have definitely declined

They won away in Moscow too and beat them 5-2 something at home. except Sunderland, Cardiff and Bayern game they haven't had a game where they haven't created enough chances. Strike-force is firing. Depth is there. On the long run they are title contenders. already racked up an insane GD Their away form has been a mystery considering how good they are at home and yeah, all this without Kompany at the back. He'll be a big boost to them because Lescott had poor games in some of those defeats.

Where does that leave us with HG players? Already we don't have enough to register a full squad. Now one HG left-back will be replaced by Coentrao? I doubt it

AVB and his high line

I wouldn't wish to be Ivanovic in that dressing room after the game

Mata and Schurrle will surely get playing time in December but I doubt KdB will get minutes. Especially if Mikel-Ramires-Lampard continues in midfield

there is no obligation to start him. he doesn't fit well with a counter-attacking system. Works far better in a game where Chelsea's trying to break down a stubborn defence

I am not too sure this team can hang with Barca, Real, Bayern. This team while certainly better in attack, will leak goals imo. Kalou, Malouda, Meireles etc weren't the most skilful of players but they were very effective in shutting out the opposition. We did do well against Bayern in the Super Cup but it was just one game. We will have to wait and see if the team can replicate that performance if it does face a big European side again this season And yeah, Didier deserves the reception at the Bridge. Would love for that to happen

generous to include Chelsea there. Arsenal, City have been way better

that's the problem with draw conclusions based on one game while ignoring the other 3 his month. the players are not exactly filled with confidence heading into a tough hectic period of the season. i hope we don't come out of that period outside the top 4. Big games against Arsenal, Liverpool in December

Yeah. The Champions League is stacked this time around. Must win the group. Only Dortmund and Juve among the group runners-up that I'd worry about

if chelsea finishes 2nd in the group, it's a guaranteed tough draw. Real, PSG, Bayern, Atletico or Barca. that will be the end then

The Round of16 looks terrifying tbh. 10-11 good teams in there No chance - Bayern, Barca, Real, Tricky - ManC, ManU, Arsenal, Juventus, Dortmund, Atletico, PSG, Zenit, Manageable - Schalke, Milan, Leverkusen, Benfica Can this team grind out results? that's the question. The players will almost definitely bottle it this year I think

Got schooled by Basel really. Just 2 shots and None on target. A bad game all around. The problem is, it's the third one this month. Got to improve for the Christmas period.