The champions roll into town, and Newcastle are next on the list
Chelsea head north on the back of five straight wins, and a Newcastle side scrapping for Europe can only hope the Blues leave their shooting boots in London.
You know the moment. The ball is worked out wide, the cross comes in, and before the keeper has even set his feet the net is billowing. Southampton found out all over again this afternoon, 2-0 down at St Mary's before they could draw breath, and Chelsea simply moved on to the next one. That is the terrifying thing about this side: there is always a next one.
On 6 February the next one is Newcastle United, and the champions go to Tyneside with the air of men ticking names off a list. Twenty-four league games played, twenty-two won, sixty-eight goals to the good, and a table that reads like a misprint. Chelsea sit on 67 points. Second-placed Liverpool have 48. You can do the maths in your head, but it feels rude to say it out loud.
The form is WWLWW for the leaders and WWDLW for the Geordies, which sounds close until you remember that Chelsea's only league defeat all season is a distant memory and their last three league outings have brought thirteen goals. Newcastle, for their part, ground out a scrappy 1-0 over Everton today to climb to eighth, and they will fancy a shot at a side that must, surely, ease off at some point. It never seems to happen.
The one worry for the Blues is Jairzinho, out with sprained ankle ligaments, but this squad does not do worries. Newcastle have their own absentees, with Rafael missing through a virus and Claudiu Bălan nursing a damaged achilles, and against a visiting side this ruthless that is a cruel way to prepare. The last three meetings tell the story plainly enough: 3-1, 5-0, 4-1 to Chelsea, all away from home for the Tynesiders, and all one-way traffic.
There is an old boy's touch to this one, too. Francisco Pardal wore Newcastle's colours for a couple of seasons in the mid-2050s, and now he will run out in Chelsea blue with the crowd on Tyneside remembering him. He never scored many for them, but he will remember the place well enough, and the home support will not have forgotten him either.
Newcastle are chasing Europe, eighth on 35 points with four wins in their last five, and a result against the champions would feel like a trophy of its own. But Chelsea do not hand out souvenirs. They arrive, they score, they leave, and the rest of us are left watching the gap at the top grow wider. Newcastle's best hope is that the Blues have somewhere better to be. They never do.