TALKING POINTS
Jose Mourinho has suggested the next flurry of matches may 'clarify' the positions of the six current title contenders. The way the fixtures have been ordered has already irked the Chelsea manager several times this season.

This week it does seem odd that some teams (notably Arsenal and Manchester United) will now play two games with home advantage in rapid succession while rivals (Chelsea and Man City) play twice on the road.

The arrangement is all the more galling, of course, because of Chelsea's self-inflicted disparity between home and away form. The Blues have dropped just two points at the Bridge but to date on our travels just two of the six games have produced all three points.

On the positive side both away venues over the next four days have been happy hunting grounds in recent years. The Blues have not lost at Stoke City since April 1975 and have netted 15 goals in the last five Stadium of Light trips, an average of three per game.

Sunday's match was proof that if you hope to prosper in the cut-and-thrust of the Barclays Premier League you've got to pick a Pochettino or two. After conceding so early to Southampton it took an astute tactical switch to crucify the Saints.

This one was classic Special One: Demba Ba on to make two upfront, two-on-two in the centre, with the defence pushing up. The change meant Southampton were pinned in their own half, unusually for them, and outnumbered in danger areas.

Ba crowned an impressively aggressive performance with a flicked goal - his first in the league since March. Two of centre-backs hit the target in the same top-flight match for the first time since Fulham away in April.

Surprisingly Gary Cahill had not scored in the league since Spurs away in October 2012. Was that, as he told MOTD2, a 'duck off his back' or did he break his monkey? Who cares - it was a superbly agile header from the Yorkshireman, almost dolphin-like.

John Terry is now the highest-scoring defender (penalties excluded) since the Premier League began in 1992. He also eased past 1960s-1980s stalwart John Hollins into fourth on the club's list of all-time appearance makers with 593 in all competitions.

Another symbol of Sunday's turnaround was Juan Mata battling the ball away from impressive full-back Luke Shaw shortly before Chelsea's second goal - from his assist.

People are probably still rightly swooning at the Spaniard's half-volleyed defence-splitting pass to Eden Hazard during the Blues' best spell. It was his work off the ball as well as on it that really helped shackle the Saints, though.

Chelsea are top class retrievers this season. The Southampton result was the Blues' second win from a losing position this season. Coupled with two draws salvaged from similar positions, Chelsea have reclaimed eight points this campaign - more than any other team, and testament to the character and resourcefulness of the squad.

Only Man City have scored two-plus goals in a game more often than the Pensioners' nine in 13 matches. Leaders Arsenal and Southampton have the joint tightest defences in the top flight having conceded 10 times. Chelsea have let in 11; the tally of tonight's opponents Sunderland is 24 - almost two a game.

However former Stamford Bridge idol Gus Poyet appears to have stopped the rot since taking over as manager a month ago. Two of their last three games ended in clean sheets and they are off the bottom of the table, albeit five points from safety.

If a Premier League table was produced from when Poyet took over on 8 October to the present, Sunderland would be 12th with seven points from six games. In the next five days the Uruguayan's 100 per cent home record will come under threat from his two former playing clubs, Chelsea and Tottenham.

The attacking midfielder had already established himself as a Chelsea fans' favourite before scoring one of the great opening day goals seen at Stamford Bridge, a dramatic volley from Gianfranco Zola's sublime scoop, in August 1999.

The man who moved Poyet on from the Bridge in summer 2001, Claudio Ranieri, was in charge the last time we failed to win at the Stadium of Light - a 0-0 draw in December 2001.

Barclays Premier League fixtures
Tonight
Arsenal v Hull 7.45pm
Fulham v Tottenham 8pm
Liverpool v Norwich 7.45pm
Manchester United v Everton 7.45pm
Southampton v Aston Villa 7.45pm
Stoke v Cardiff 7.45pm
Sunderland v Chelsea 7.45pm
Swansea v Newcastle 7.45pm - BT Sport
West Brom v Manchester City 8pm

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