Next up for Chelsea is an FA Cup third round trip to Pride Park to face a Derby County side that has have won seven of their nine games since Steve McClaren’s appointment as manager.
Chelsea are in good form themselves. Jose Mourinho’s genius was evident once more over the festive period, with an inspired double substitution of Oscar and Willian replacing Andre Schurrle and Juan Mata proving decisive as they stormed to a 3-0 win over Southampton on New Year’s Day.
That win made it 10 points from 12 over Christmas, a goalless draw away at title rivals Arsenal the only dropped points, and Chelsea have now won six of their last seven in all competitions.
The Blues are now 7/2 for the Premier League title and and 11/2 for their fifth FA Cup in the last eight years.
Such is Chelsea’s strength in depth that Mourinho will be able to ring the changes without affecting the quality of his starting XI.
BetVictor make Chelsea 9/20 favourites with the Rams 13/2 and the draw 15/4 for Sunday’s clash.
And expect Wednesday’s goalscorer Willian to return to the starting line-up after his cameo against the Saints.
The Brazilian is 10/1 to open the scoring, 11/4 to net at any time and 10/1 to be named man of the match.
For all your weekend odds check out BetVictor.com.
Best wishes for a happy and successful 2014.
Charlie
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This post was last modified on 05/01/2014