The Blues will aim to build on their recent win at Britannia Stadium when Saints visit Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, kick-off at 19:45 hours (GMT). The rearranged match at home to the Londoners was originally scheduled for December, but the FIFA Club World Cup played in Japan led to the game being postponed.

Just 11 days after our last meeting, we take on the top flight's most southerly side again, this time in west London. This being the sole midweek match in the Barclays Premier League, tonight Chelsea have the opportunity to move four points equidistant from Tottenham in fourth and Manchester City in second.

That will require something that has become surprisingly unfamiliar in recent weeks - a home victory. That said, only two of the Blues' six games since the 8-0 Fulham Road filleting of Aston Villa have been played at the Bridge. Chelsea have scored 86 goals this season in all competitions, 13 more than any other top-flight team, at an average of 2.38 per game. 14 of them are from the team’s top scorer Fernando Torres.

Both visiting teams parked the charabanc in front of their goal to frustrate the hosts out and help achieve their successes from breakaway attacks. Chelsea created enough chances to have won both matches but the decisiveness lacking then will need to be banished tonight.

One of those four recent away games was the FA Cup victory over this evening's visitors in which Demba Ba starred. Southampton took the game to Chelsea, took the lead too, but were then taken apart with three goals either side of the break and a further two for good measure.

It is unlikely Nigel Adkins will be as adventurous in his tactics for this league encounter, but you never know - they did score three at Stoke recently.

The champions of Europe bettered that notch at the Britannia by one on Saturday in one of the most impressive overall performances of the season by the Londoners.

Having already ended Everton's home run recently, Rafael Benitez's side did for Stoke's best top-tier unbeaten sequence at home since 1973/74. In the process the Blues inflicted City's heaviest defeat at this level since Luton won by the same margin in April 1985.

It was also a new high score for the Pensioners away to the Potters, previously set at 3-0 with a Division Two victory in 1988/89. Frank Lampard eased past Kerry Dixon (a former Saint too) into second position on Chelsea's all-time scorers chart, of course.

One hundred and ninety-four goals - none of them in the lower leagues, many against Europe's elite - is a remarkable haul for any footballer. For a midfielder it is extraordinary. Congratulations to the history man. Bobby Tambling may regret the nine goals required to topple his crown will come shortly, but there is no better or more respectful successor.

Poor Jon Walters has the distinction of being the first opposition player to score twice for the Blues in one game. It was the third time a team had netted twice on our behalf.

Barcelona (Paco Gallego, Miguel Reina) in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup semi-final of May 1966 and Swindon Town (Jon Gittens, Ross MacLaren) in Division Two, February 1989, were the others. Both those previous occasions were at home.

The goal difference column can often be a better indicator of where a side might end up in the table than the points tally at any given point in the middle of a season.

Chelsea's goals scored and conceded records (and therefore, obviously, goal difference) are identical to those of City. Distribution of goals is what made the present seven-point difference. Chelsea's home total is three down on the Mancunians but that has translated into three fewer wins.

As holders, we now know our FA Cup fourth round opponents and hosts. Brentford saw off Southend by two goals to one at Griffin Park last night.

We last played the Bees competitively way back in 1950 - our only previous meeting in the same competition. The fixture will mean this is the first season in our history in which we will have played Brentford, Fulham and QPR.


- Match preview by chelseafc.com (Rick Glanvill and Paul Dutton)