Blues roll on, and rock-bottom Luton are next in the firing line
Chelsea return to the Drogba Arena on 16 February with a 21-point lead and a side bottom of the pile that has not beaten them in years.
Chelsea have spent this season making the impossible look routine, and on 16 February the champions bring that habit back to the Drogba Arena against a Luton Town side scrapping for its Premier Division life.
Today's 3-0 win at Nottingham Forest stretched the Blues to 70 points from 25 games, a full 21 clear of second-placed Rotherham United. Since the turn of the year they have simply refused to blink: Southampton beaten 2-0 away, Sheffield United put to the sword 7-0, Shamrock Rovers dismissed 3-1 in Europe.
Luton, by contrast, are where past seasons show the drop zone lives. Fifteen points from 26 games, 13 adrift of 17th-placed Middlesbrough, and a run of one draw and four defeats in their last six. A 1-0 home loss to Everton on 2 February did nothing to stop the slide.
The old boy worth a glance is Norberto Pico, a Chelsea man now who spent 2056/57 and 2057/58 at Luton without ever finding the net in his 16 games. He will fancy his chances of a first against his former club if he gets the nod.
Chelsea come into this one carrying knocks: Júnior, Rubén Medina and Nacho Valera are all sidelined. Luton are missing their own spearhead in Darijan Miklić, and Aykut Gök is out too.
The head-to-head offers little comfort for the visitors. Chelsea have won the last three meetings, including a 4-1 stroll at Luton in October, and have not dropped a point to them in that spell. The champions are expected to keep the machine rolling; for Luton, it is another afternoon of survival arithmetic against the most relentless side in England.