Sunderland will have to buck the trend if they are to beat Chelsea in this weekend’s Premier League encounter at Stamford Bridge.
There was a startling difference between these two sides in midweek as Chelsea dismantled fifth-placed Hull, while Sunderland were beaten 1-0 by lowly Stoke.
Roy Keane’s side is further hampered by their dreadful recent record against the former Premier League champions with Chelsea having won their last seven league games.
Sunderland find scoring against Saturday’s opponents a difficult task with just two goals in their last eight top-flight encounters against The Blues.
The Black Cats are likely to start with the fit-again Kenwynne Jones who came off the bench at the Britannia Stadium.
This means plenty of aerial combat for the Chelsea rear guard, but one player who will not be locking horns with the Trinidad & Tobago striker is Ricardo Carvalho who is out for a minimum of three weeks with a thigh strain.
Chelsea boss Luis Felipe Scolari may partner captain John Terry with Alex in the heart of the defence and Joe Cole is a doubt with an ankle knock suffered in the midweek game at Hull.
Scolari's team will be looking to banish memories of the Liverpool reverse which ended the 86-match unbeaten home record last Sunday, but the wayward form of Florent Malouda and Nicolas Anelka, in front of goal, will be a cause of concern for the Brazilian as they chase their 1,000th Premier League goal.
Influential goalkeeper Craig Gordon is struggling with an ankle injury, so Marton Fulop is expected to start his third consecutive game for Sunderland.
Phil Bardsley has a dead leg but should travel to West London, while Teemu Tainio, Nyron Nosworthy and Grant Leadbitter are pushing for places in the starting Xl.
PIVOTAL PLAYER: Frank Lampard. With the continuing absence of Didier Drogba in the Chelsea attack, lampard continues his dual roles of playmaker and goalscorer.
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