Guard Against Complacency and Sunderland Points Will Be Chelsea's
There's a first time for everything—just ask Sunderland, who ended Jose Mourinho's unbeaten Premier League record at Stamford Bridge last season.
That impressive run included 77 matches across his two spells as Chelsea boss, stretching back to August 2004.
The long-held belief was that Mourinho and Chelsea simply didn't do home defeats.
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Seven months on from that shock 2-1 victory, the belief has grown that, this season, Mourinho and Chelsea don't do defeats at all. Period.
We're 19 games into the 2014/15 campaign. Across all competitions, Chelsea haven't lost.
Indeed, they haven't looked like losing, either.
Chelsea's form has been phenomenal, capped off with Tuesday's pulsating 5-0 humbling of Schalke in the Champions League.
They look strong and capable of controlling the opposition. Above all else, they are clinical when the time calls for it.
Mourinho's side are rightly favourites to take the Premier League title come May and will no doubt be in the running for a glut of other honours.
Their position wasn't as strong in April, but with a Champions League semi-final place secured and sitting second in the league, bookmakers would be lying if they said they weren't sweating on Chelsea completing a surprise double.
Sunderland killed that dream, and they have the capacity to severely dent the Chelsea parade now.
When a team enjoys an undefeated run the way Chelsea have, two things can happen.
On one hand, the psychological impact on their opponents can prove too much, and they can cruise to victory. On the other hand, complacency can set in, and players can start to believe they simply need to turn up for the three points.
On the back of last weekend's 2-0 victory against West Bromwich Albion—a win more comfortable than the scoreline suggests—Mourinho was adamant the latter wouldn't be happening with his squad.
"We are playing fantastically well, we are getting results, but at the end of the season if you don’t manage to get some silverware then it is a frustration," he said, repeating the same message—that nothing is won yet—he has often delivered this season.
Mourinho will be reminding his players of that before kick-off against Sunderland, and they will do well to listen.
Heading into December, now more than ever, Chelsea do not want to lose momentum.
Manchester City are trailing the London club by eight points. It's a significant cushion at this stage, yet equally, it isn't an unassailable lead.
Defeat at the Stadium of Light on Saturday and suddenly the advantage of playing Southampton just under 24 hours later is a major bonus for Manuel Pellegrini's side.
Invincible Chelsea will become beatable Chelsea.
City's tails will be up. For the first time this season, they'll be gifted an opportunity to cut Chelsea's lead at the top—exactly at the point when fixture congestion ahead of Christmas gives us results that were never expected.
It's why some managers prefer to chase at this time of year. It's all about who blinks first. Invariably, it's the team at the top that feels the pressure.
If Chelsea approach this game in the same style they did Schalke, they will win. They were mouthwatering in midweek, and logic tells us that the Black Cats will not be able to cope.
Should there be a repeat of the performance in April's defeat to Sunderland, things will get ugly.
Chelsea are a bigger scalp now than they have been since Mourinho returned, and Gus Poyet will be trying to use this game as a way to transform his own team's fortunes, with his side just three points above the relegation zone in 14th place.
The Uruguayan will give his team confidence by reminding them they were the last side to beat Chelsea in the league, and that nobody has come close since.
They'll have a passionate crowd behind them, and the intensity will be turned up a notch. Sometimes that passion alone has been enough to pull off a shock in the north east.
Sunderland have nothing to lose on Saturday. Chelsea do. This game has banana skin written all over it.
Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes
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