9 pre-match stats you need to know ahead of the Reds' clash with Swansea

The Reds host Swansea City on Monday night, hoping to build on their narrow, hard-fought 1-0 win over Burnley on Boxing Day. Here's nine pre-match stats ahead of the big match...

Match report: Southampton 1 Chelsea 1

The Blues end 2014 with a draw after coming from behind at St Mary’s courtesy of a trademark moment of Eden Hazard brilliance in first-half injury time.

We laid siege to the Southampton goal after the break on the hunt for a precious winner but the decisive breakthrough would not come and so we had to settle for a point on the South Coast, having been controversially denied a penalty when Cesc Fabregas was tripped. It was our hosts that opened the scoring through Sadio Mane’s one-on-one finish but we ended an entertaining first half on level terms after Hazard beat two men and finished emphatically in the corner. Clear opportunities proved hard to come by after the interval, with substitute Didier Drogba twice close to converting Hazard crosses with time almost up against a Saints side reduced to 10 men very late on, Morgan Schneiderlin the man dismissed for two bookable offences. The draw ensures the Blues will top the league at the start of next year, which begins with a trip to White Hart Lane, Tottenham our opponents.

TEAM NEWS

Considering the proximity to our last game, not much over 48 hours ago, Jose Mourinho elected to make three changes to the side that beat West Ham so impressively on Boxing Day. Filipe Luis, John Mikel Obi and Andre Schurrle came in at the expense of Cesar Azpilicueta, Oscar and Willian respectively. Cesc Fabregas moved further forward into the number 10 role he recently took up at Stoke and Derby, allowing Mikel to line up alongside Nemanja Matic in the middle. Filipe Luis for Azpilicueta and Schurrle for Willian were direct replacements. Ronald Koeman brought in four new faces from his side that had defeated Crystal Palace two days ago. Captain Jose Fonte returned from suspension, while Victor Wanyama, Dusan Tadic and Matt Targett all started, the latter for the first time in the Premier League. He replaced our own Ryan Bertrand, ineligible under the terms of his loan deal. Regular right-back Nathaniel Clyne was injured so Maya Yoshida moved across.

FIRST HALF

A beautiful winter’s afternoon on the South Coast was in stark contrast to our fixture here last season - that win coming in the teeming rain and swirling wind – and it was with the sun in mind that John Terry chose to switch ends after winning the coin toss, leaving Thibaut Courtois in the shade. Perhaps his opposite number Frazer Forster was blinded by the brightness of the sun when he came out to claim an early Fabregas corner, misjudging the flight of the delivery but getting just enough fingertips on it to deny Terry a third opening goal in as many games. Schurrle, making a fine diagonal run, got on the end of a Hazard pass before Forster but from a very tight angle his chipped finish was never in danger of threatening the Southampton goal. It had been a good opening 10 minutes but Southampton then managed to build up a head of steam culminating in the first goal of the day. The danger began with a corner that was twice won aerially by a man in red and white, eventually requiring Terry on the stretch to put it behind to stop Fonte converting from close range. Next it was Cahill’s turn to produce on the slide, expertly preventing Tadic’s through pass reaching Mane, so when the same pair linked up again on 17 minutes you couldn’t say the Blues hadn’t been warned. A deep Southampton ball was chested down by Pelle to Tadic who first time flicked the ball over our backline. As Terry stepped up Mane darted in behind; this time the ball reached the Senegalese who raced away and clinically lofted it past the upright Courtois. That was the first league goal we had conceded since Newcastle and now all eyes were on how the Blues would respond. Fabregas cunningly wriggled free down the left, not for the first time, and though his cross deflected over Forster it was also agonisingly behind Schurrle, one of many near-misses and what-ifs in the opening 45.

The Blues certainly weren’t struggling to keep possession but against a combative and well-organised Southampton side that decisive moment proved elusive until time added on at the end of the half. After another coming together in midfield the ball rolled in Fabregas’s direction not far from the halfway line. The Spaniard chipped first time over Yoshida, judging the spin perfectly for Hazard to dash on to. He dropped a shoulder, cut inside the retreating Japanese defender, and then his compatriot Alderweireld, before firing the ball across goal into the far-right corner. It really was trademark Hazard, the timing and execution of the strike an excellent way to mark his first league goal away from Stamford Bridge since our win at Hull in January. Mourinho and his men could now feel much better about things at the interval.

 SECOND HALF

The manager deemed a change necessary before the restart, replacing Schurrle with Willian, and the Brazilian was in the thick of the action early on, having two shots blocked in quick succession. The second fell to Fabregas in the box who was tripped by the slipping Targett. Instead referee Taylor deemed it a dive and booked Fabregas, much to the midfielder’s frustration. Chelsea had been harshly denied a penalty. Yoshida followed him into the book for scything down Hazard and our winger then found space behind him to chest down a lofted Fabregas pass, chest, swivel and shoot with his left just beyond Forster’s far-post. By the hour mark the Blues were really starting to turn the screw and one brilliant move involving the busy Filipe Luis, Hazard and Diego Costa nearly allowed the striker a clear sight of goal. Koeman brought Florin Gordos on for Yoshida, shifting Alderweireld to right-back. The waves of blue kept coming but clear chances remained at a premium with increasing numbers of home players making their way behind the ball.

With a quarter-of-an-hour to go Mourinho signalled his attacking intentions further by replacing the excellent Mikel with Didier Drogba. With his first involvement the Ivorian almost played in Diego Costa, and then our top scorer slipped when running on to an errant back pass. Before that chance Schneiderlin was booked for a crude late tackle on Hazard and when the same man hacked Fabregas down with time almost up, he had to go. The Blues kept going and twice in the final four minutes Drogba was inches away from converting a low Hazard centre. Filipe Luis had a shot blocked by the massed ranks of red 10 yards from goal but there was to be no breakthrough and so we head back to London with a well-earned point. Man City also drew later in the afternoon so our lead remains three points. Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry (c), Filipe Luis; Mikel (Drogba 74), Matic; Schurrle (Willian h/t), Fabregas, Hazard; Diego Costa (Remy 89). Unused subs Cech, Zouma, Azpilicueta, Ramires. Scorer Hazard 45+1 Booked Matic 31, Fabregas 55 Southampton (4-4-2): Forster; Yoshida (Gardos 62), Fonte (c), Alderweireld, Targett; Wanyama, Schneiderlin, S.Davis (Long 77), Tadic (Ward-Prowse 58); Pelle, Mane. Unused subs K.Davis, Isgrove, McCarthy, Reed. Scorer Mane 17 Booked Yoshida 57, Schneiderlin 71, Pelle 90+5 Sent off Schneiderlin 89 (second yellow) Referee Anthony Taylor

Final whistle verdict: Doubly punished

It was a decision that denied Chelsea the chance to take the lead from the penalty spot in the second half at Southampton that was the key moment of the game said Jose Mourinho afterwards.

The south coast side took the lead on 17 minutes in Sunday afternoon’s match, the second game for both sides in three days, and in doing so became the first to score against Chelsea in the league since Newcastle at the beginning of the month. The Saints were set to take that advantage into the changing room at half-time. That was until a moment of Eden Hazard inspiration in added time, the Belgian equalising with his 10th goal of the season having taken on and beaten two defenders. The opening 45 minutes were a balanced contest but after the interval the Blues pressed the Saints back for long periods but could not find a winner. We were the first side this season to deny Ronald Koeman’s team a league win after they had scored first, but could have come away with all three points had referee Anthony Taylor awarded a penalty rather than booked Cesc Fabregas when our midfielder was clearly tripped inside the area in the second half. ‘My view is the view of everybody,’ said Mourinho after the game. ‘There are situations where people can have different opinions but there are others where everybody has the same opinion. It wasn’t given because the referee made a mistake, people make mistakes and it was a big mistake. He is a very good ref and a good guy. He is young and has years of football ahead of him, and it is a big mistake but tomorrow is another day and life goes on. ‘In the first match of the season at Burnley Diego Costa got a yellow card when it should have been a penalty to us and a red card for Burnley, and now a few months later we lose points and Fabregas gets a yellow card. In football we should always try to change the bad things and the double punishment is something unbelievable. You have a penalty and probably you win the game, you don’t get the penalty and you get a yellow card. ‘It should be easy – the ref goes to a screen and he sees that he made a mistake, and he is a good and honest guy and he writes I made a mistake and let’s clean the yellow card to Cesc. It should be a simple process.’ Mourinho highlighted an unfair media spotlight which is highly selective in what it focuses on after Chelsea games, something he likened to a campaign… ‘We have had bad yellow cards against us and in the game against Hull City, the most important thing of the game was not Cahill [not being booked], it was Fiilpe Luis with almost a broken leg. ‘In the last two weeks both Filipe Luis and Eden Hazard could now be with broken legs, these are the two crucial things in the last few weeks from my matches, and people talk about Cahill in a game with the result 2-0, and against West Ham, a good game, 2-0 which could be 4-0 or 5-0, Valencia made a very bad dive at the end of the game and people speak about Ivanovic. ‘Today it is a game between two good sides, a difficult match with not many opportunities and the ref makes a wrong decision. He just made a mistake, I don’t say more than that.’

The Chelsea boss felt his team performed well against the fourth-placed side…

‘Southampton defended with everything and they defended a lot. They played with a central defender at right-back, they accumulated a lot of players behind the ball and they did well with their strategy of closing everything. We tried everything and we dominated, we created a lot. Sometimes the shots on-target statistics are not the best evidence of the football played. We played a lot, especially in the second half. ‘Oscar was ill, we have no injuries, and I replaced Schurrle with Willian at half-time because Southampton had a low block and Schurrle is more dangerous getting behind people. With such a low block, we needed more a creative guy like Willian than a runner like Schurrle.’ Chelsea’s draw was matched as a result by Manchester City’s 2-2 at home against Burnley, meaning we reach the halfway stage in the league season with a three-point lead... ‘We’ve had very difficult fixtures away from home and we lost one game we didn’t deserve to lose at Newcastle. We are doing well,’ said Mourinho on recent away form. ‘We have played well since the beginning of the season and we are top of the league in the first part of the season because that is what we deserve and is a consequence of our work. In the second part of the season we try to do the same thing. ‘Tomorrow is a day off because my players deserve it and against Tottenham we will be there again trying to play a good game and a get a good result.’

Lucas fully focused on maximum hauls

Lucas Leiva has called for tunnel vision on earning three points in each next match after helping Liverpool to achieve that aim with a resolute 1-0 win against Burnley on Boxing Day.

The Reds were forced to battle hard for 90 minutes at Turf Moor, where an energetic display by the hosts caused regular problems, not least when Danny Ings lashed a shot onto the post. Serious warnings had been served in the first half and required a response, which was provided through Raheem Sterling, who rounded the goalkeeper and converted from Philippe Coutinho's assist. With maximum spoils to take back to Merseyside, Lucas' attention quickly switched to consecutive home fixtures and the necessity to maintain momentum in the festive period. "It wasn't the most beautiful game to play in, especially in the first half, where we were probably too deep," the Brazilian reflected to Liverpoolfc.com after the final whistle. "In the first half the performance wasn't the best, but we showed a lot of character and sometimes you have to win ugly. In the second half we adjusted that and we pressed a lot higher and then started to create chances. "I think it's a massive win for us because we now have two games at home, and we've kept a clean sheet - we showed we can defend as a team. "Home games are important to get the three points. We drew in our last match at Anfield, so the next game will be massive. But we have to take it each game at a time. "We need to keep improving and hopefully in the second half of the season we can be much better. At the moment, we just have to get the three points in every game that we play and see what happens."

Jose Mourinho: Chelsea boss hails 'spirit and mentality' in win at Stoke

Jose Mourinho believes Chelsea's 2-0 win at Stoke, which secured top spot in the Premier League at Christmas, was worth "more than three points". John Terry and Cesc Fabregas weighed in with the goals that moved Chelsea three points clear of Manchester City. After suffering defeat at the Britannia Stadium last season, Mourinho was happy to get the job done this time. "To win here they must be a really very good team with the capacity to adapt to Stoke's style of play," Mourinho said. "These victories mean more than three points. To win and get three points, the players need the right spirit and mentality. "Only with a great team performance is it possible to be successful against Stoke." The one controversy of the match came when referee Neil Swarbrick elected only to caution Stoke defender Phil Bardsley for a full-blooded challenge on Eden Hazard.

Chelsea have won the Premier League title on the three previous occasions they have been top at Christmas Mourinho felt the tackle was worthy of a heavier punishment. "At that time, I felt the tackle was a bad one but if it was a bad one it was the only one," he said. "If the referee decided not to give a red and lost control of the game it is a problem but he kept control and we reacted well. At the end of the day it was a fair game, a typical English winter game." Emerging victorious from a Monday night trip to the Potteries was the first step in a challenging festive programme for the league leaders. In-form West Ham are the visitors to Stamford Bridge on Boxing Day ahead of trips to Southampton on 28 December and Tottenham on 1 January. "Now we have to focus on the three matches we still have until the end of this period," Mourinho added. "The three-point lead we have is a little advantage, it is a little pillow we have to protect us - we go home happy and pleased with what we did."

Chelsea ensured they will be top of the Premier League on Christmas Day after a hard-fought victory over Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium.

John Terry's header inside two minutes kick-started a spiky contest that threatened to spill over at times.

Yet for all Stoke's desire, Chelsea always looked in control and deservedly doubled their lead through Cesc Fabregas's scuffed finish. Steven Nzonzi had Stoke's best chance but his deflected shot was well saved. Victory took Chelsea three points clear of second-placed Manchester City. The only blight on Chelsea's night came with a late injury to Eden Hazard, who limped off after appearing to injure an ankle in a tangle with Jonathan Walters. Ahead of the kick-off, much talk centred on the hackneyed issue of whether Chelsea's stars could perform on a cold December night in Stoke. Those inside the Britannia Stadium did not have to wait long for an answer, with barely 90 seconds on the clock when the visitors went in front. After Branislav Ivanovic's shot from Chelsea's first attack was charged down, Terry's unchallenged header from Fabregas' resulting corner powered past the exposed Asmir Begovic.