DaRick

One of the answers is playing for us.

He's been playing quite poorly, so ATM overpriced. I'm torn between gambling with Kennedy given his previous promise at LB, recalling one of Ake or Baba given their high upside, or going for another young gun with the potential to be better than Alonso such as Benfica's Grimaldo, Celta's Jonny, Nice's Dalbert or even Leverkusen's Wendell.

A fine servant and always at least a useful squad player, but I never felt that he really fulfilled his potential, or rose above being a good to very good player for Chelsea. I think it was because he was simply content to play a rather limited 'anchor man' role for Chelsea by simply sitting in front of the defence and circulating the ball rather than using his considerable strength, passing and tackling ability and vision to play a more expansive and influential role within the side, as he did for Nigeria (maybe as a more rounded defensive midfielder, or even a deep-lying playmaker). Granted, this may have been because successive managers used him in such a role and so he may thought that was what was expected of him. I wish him a nice payday in Tianjin.

Luckily I just slept this one out. I'm not surprised at our loss. This was always going to be a really tight game, against strong, fired-up opponents in their own den. Starting Kante-Matic was fine. A midfield with Cesc would have been inappropriate against high-pressing opponents because we would get overrun even more. However with hindsight maybe complementing Kante and Matic in midfield with Cesc (or even Chalobah) might have given us more bodies to cope with their pressing while providing a passing outlet. However, I think Pedro's selection was a mistake, despite him scoring against Tottenham. Pedro is good when his movement is needed to break down stubborn defences while playing quickly. Against Spurs, Willian's qualities on the counter were always called for. That is if we didn't decide a 3-man midfield was best. Still, we're in good shape considering the travails of September. Just need to learn from this experience and keep going.

Sorry, I still remember them as SAF's former team. The league became a better place when he retired and I'd honestly die happy if we never revisited the days where Man U won titles ever again. Given that Liverpool is the alternative that says quite a lot. I mean, I enjoy making fun of Liverpool but they don't inspire revulsion the way that Man U, Arsenal and to a lesser extent Tottenham do for me.

I was going to say that I didn't rate their chances for winning the title (and indeed they do very much rely on Carrick, Zlatan and increasingly Pogba) but if they get more favourable results and referring decisions like this I will start to become wary.

Six.

I'm hoping that Man U and Liverpool just cancel each other out. A 0-0 with an idiotic penalty and a red card or two would be nice.

This match is a joke. Like SAF's united, referring idiocy has guaranteed Utd another 3 points.

Didn't the refs get the memo that Jose is not SAF?

Ahhh and Liverpool throw away a gilt-edged opportunity to put pressure on us. Where we won, they drew. Pleease please please let us beat Tottenham oh lord...

Have no idea if I have access to it in Australia, TBH. Also possibly wrong time zone.

With Allardyce? Doubtful. Hull, Sunderland and Swansea are all IMO even worse. I think they'll finish 16th or 17th.

IMO Liverpool have the best chance of our rivals, but defensively they can be suspect and it would not surprise me if Klopp's hyperactive brand of pressing eventually burnt them out. Losing Mane in January will also hurt. Man U have simply dropped too many points and while they have been on a good run, they have not entirely convinced. I expect that next season is much more likely to be their year, as is always the case with Mourinho. Arsenal are Arsenal and Tottenham are Tottenham, whereas Guardiola comes off as too inflexible to win the title with a Man City side which simply isn't accustomed to his way of playing.

Wow, who'd have thought Giroud of all people could pull something like that off?

This will be a really tight, edgy game - at least the most difficult challenge we've faced since Man City. They will press aggressively from the off, so it is important that Matic and Kante do not get caught in possession during the first 30 minutes. After that they will tire and we can pick them off on the counter. Spurs looked impressive vs Watford but I'm not sure how much we can take from that - Watford haven't been very good in recent months and they've been ravaged by injury.

Slick Willy made the difference in the end. Can't go past a brace especially with Hazard not at his best.

He just shoved Indi Martins aside like a ragdoll, like he did Otamendi a month ago, and piledrived the ball into the right corner. Great goal, great striker.

He's arguably finished more clinically this season than he has previously. Two very well taken goals. He lacks Pedro's movement, but he's quicker than Pedro and so he's incredibly dangerous on the counter. I think Stoke were more attacking than many of us expected, which played right into Willian's hands.

Liverpool lead. Why am I not surprised? Come on Pep, your tactical acumen is badly needed!

We're on course for 98 points ATM. Holy sh*t that is brilliant. Our run might end vs Spurs but who cares? Conte has done an absolutely magnificent job.

Defensively we were below our usual high standards, but I'm really pleased by how our attack stood up to the plate. I thought we would miss Pedro's movement against Stoke but Stoke were more attacking than I think we were expecting, which plays into Willian's hands because he is lethal on the counter. Unfortunately, it may also have caught our defence on the hop a bit. Will need to tighten up defensively vs Spurs, whom I expect will be even more attacking. Willian is a must pick in such games. Kante/Matic will provide the additional defensive ballast we need, but Matic in particular must be careful not to get caught in possession against Spurs, whom will definitely press heavily. EDIT: Great to usher in the New Year with a win! I'm sure half of you will be getting plastered in celebration!

Stoke scoring was disappointing. Great to see Willian make his mark after being distinctly mediocre!

*groan*

I should have guessed that he would help break Stoke open.