A ban, a fine and a self-imposed silence; some injuries, a returning hero and a title crunch, all in eight days Chelsea began by conceding four goals against a team from League One.
By the orderly standards of a very impressive campaign thus far, Chelsea appear to be flirting with turmoil as the world tunes into Saturday’s clash with Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.
A Barclays Premier League record of 26 broadcasters will film the game which will be beamed to 175 countries.
What will they expect from the best teams in England? More high-intensity football thrills and spills or more belly-aching from Jose Mourinho and Manuel Pellegrini? Unlike the City boss, Mourinho seems energised by the antagonism of these confrontations, as he was during the unruly but absorbing Capital One Cup semi-final against Liverpool. He generates chaos and yet, amid the hullaballoo, the Londoners have booked into a Wembley final, spent £26.8million on Juan Cuadrado from Fiorentina and are five points clear of the champions in what seems to be a two-horse race.
Mourinho will be without 17-goal top scorer Diego Costa and probably without chief chance creator Cesc Fabregas today, but who has the fewest problems?
Manchester City have not won in three games, having also tumbled out of the FA Cup to a team from the Football League amid an inquest into the wisdom of a midweek training jaunt to Abu Dhabi, and have not kept a clean sheet in seven matches since Christmas.
After 20 matches, the title rivals were locked together: W14 D4 L2 F44 A19 Pts 46. Pellegrini’s team had the momentum and Chelsea were clinging to top spot in the table only by virtue of alphabetical order.
Two games later and City are five points off the lead with Yaya Toure and Wilfried Bony, recently signed from Swansea City, still at the Africa Cup of Nations with the Ivory Coast.
City have not won in the Premier League without Toure all season and midfielder Fernando said: ‘It makes a huge difference. It gives us a lot of confidence. Yaya is a great player and a figurehead within the club.’
He said: ‘It was similar to Stoke,’ although on Friday he offered some sort of apology to Mark Hughes. ‘It was my mistake to compare them,’ said Pellegrini. ‘Stoke has another style. Chelsea can play the way they want. We will continue in the same style.’
This week of chaos provides the backdrop for Mourinho to adopt a similar tactical approach. Without Costa and Fabregas, with other doubts surrounding the fitness of Branislav Ivanovic, Filipe Luis and John Mikel Obi - and with Mohamed Salah and Andre Schurrle on the way out - the squad seems quite thin.
He will insist the intention is to attack yet ensure his team are hard to break down, with Didier Drogba capable of a telling contribution like the goal at Manchester United in October.
‘I expect a very good Chelsea, a good defensive team, very good at counter-attacks,’ said Pellegrini. ‘We will try to move the ball quickly. We’ll be an offensive team, like we are always.’
Were he speaking, Mourinho might challenge this idea by pointing out that his team are the top scorers with 51 goals in the Premier League. They also boast the second-best defensive record, and at home they are mean - overlooking the four scored by Bradford.
Chelsea have conceded only three at home in the Premier League all season and have kept 15 clean sheets in their last 18 home league games. Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has not let in a goal in the league at the Bridge since Charlie Austin’s on November 1.
It is hard to imagine who might be next, unless this is another script written for Frank Lampard, returning to Chelsea for the first time as a City player, adding another layer of intrigue to the occasion which will be live on Sky Sports, the broadcasters with whom Mourinho has taken umbrage.
A late winner from Lampard, cousin of Sportsmail and Sky analyst Jamie Redknapp? That really would add insult to the injuries and suspensions.
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