Mourinho in search of Sunderland revenge

Jose Mourinho will attempt to overturn a
landmark defeat when Premier League leaders
Chelsea visit Sunderland this weekend.
The last time the two clubs met was in April
when Gus Poyet’s Sunderland’s side –- then
rooted at the foot of the table — pulled off a
shock win at Stamford Bridge.
Defeat brought an end to Mourinho’s 77-game
unbeaten home league run in two spells as
Chelsea manager and helped derail the Blues title
bid.
Mourinho’s side have not lost in the league since
and last weekend’s one-sided dismissal of West
Bromwich Albion helped extend the club’s lead at
the head of the Premier League to six points after
just 12 games.
The 5-0 victory at Schalke in midweek confirmed
Chelsea’s place in the knockout stage of the
Champions League and extended the Blues’
unbeaten start to the season to 19 games in all
competitions.
A demanding schedule between now and the turn
of the year will test Mourinho’s squad, but with
their main rivals regularly dropping points, it is
hard to see their commanding lead being whittled
away in the foreseeable future.
Unlike other leading Premier League clubs,
Chelsea have managed to negotiate the opening
months of the campaign without losing key
players to long-term injury.
And defender Branislav Ivanovic said: “We are
playing as a team at the moment. It’s still an
early stage of the year and we know how many
games we have to play until the end of the
season to win trophies. We have games every
three days now.
“At the moment we are very calm and everyone is
thinking in the same direction,” he added.
Cesc Fabregas had a hand in four of the goals
that crushed Schalke and the Spain midfielder
said he was playing the best football of his career
following his close season switch from Barcelona.
“I am playing next to great players and they are
playing very well and are helping me,” the former
Arsenal playmaker said. “We have a young,
talented team and the mood at the training
ground is great.”
Connor Wickham scored in Sunderland’s 2-1 win
in west London seven months ago that helped
them pull off their escape from relegation, and the
former England Under-21 international insisted
another surprise result shouldn’t be ruled out.
Poyet’s mid-table Black Cats face a tough run of
fixtures heading into December, with defending
champions Manchester City following the leaders
in visiting the Stadium of Light.
“We know we can do it from our performances
last year,” Wickham said. “We just need to play
the way we have been playing, and hopefully it’ll
happen again.
“We had the same situation last season when we
faced Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester
United in quick succession, but we managed to
pull off something remarkable then.”
Sunderland have lost just three times in the
league this season. But seven draws leaves them
too close to the relegation zone for comfort.
Wickham added: “We’ve probably had too many
draws which we could have won.”
Former Chelsea midfielder Poyet is relishing his
latest meeting with the Blues after helping the
club lift the FA Cup and European Cup Winners’
Cup during a successful four-year spell following
his arrival at Stamford Bridge in 1997.
The Sunderland head coach said: “I had a great
time there, but my focus is fully on Sunderland. It
will be nice to catch up with a few old friends, but
as soon as the game kicks-off, I won’t see
anything other than our red and white.”