Strike

Agree. Bertrand is under-utilised. Can't quite get my head around Azpilicueta getting a 5-game run at LB. He's been okay in some of those games but surely Cole or Bertrand should be taking that place back.

The squad was stacked with 25 international level players in the summer. There's the biggest indicator that youth won't be integrated very easily into the team here. Some of the youth players over the years didn't turn out so well even outside Chelsea (most of Arnesen's young signings) but now the quality is hardly an argument. Last year for example, Nathan Ake got a bit of first team football and he more than held his own. I remember he had a good game against Everton at the end of the season. Even got 90 minutes against Rubin Kazan and Middlesbrough in the cups. Not even a sniff of first team football now

it is free at the moment but eventually they will start charging i guess. Its really good though. Can rewind, fast-forward between games etc

even the weekend isn't live.

next few chelsea games are not aired in India. an alternative to watch the games. starsports(dot)com has live streaming on its site

Apart from the 3-0 November blip under Carlo, can't remember the last time we slipped up against Sunderland

Better not draw conclusions over one game but this was a good win. Especially after a stupid start

should earn a new contract

He's still got it

the urgency of the team helped. the ball was being hoofed up to him many times and he latched on to it more often than not.

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

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.