Jose Mourinho was purring like a cat that had devoured the leftovers from Christmas dinner but it did not stop him showing his professional claws after his Chelsea side eased past West Ham United 2-0 on Friday.
Sunderland have the opportunity to end in-form Chelsea's run of 19 undefeated matches in all competitions this season.
Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri will not be able to watch the game which could deliver his side their first-ever Premier League title because he wants to have lunch with his 96-year-old mother on her birthday. The Foxes will be crowned champions if Tottenham Hotspur, who trail them by eight points, fail to beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, a ground where they have not won since 1990, on Monday. But, speaking after Leicester missed out on the victory against Manchester United that would have sealed the title on Sunday, Ranieri said he will be flying back from Italy when the game kicks off. "I'd like to watch the match tomorrow, but I think I'm on a flight back from Italy so it's difficult for me to watch the match," Ranieri said after the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford. "My mother is 96 years old and I would like to have a lunch with her. I will be the last man in England to know," Ranieri added. "Three matches ago I said, in my mind Tottenham will win all the matches. Look, for us it's important to continue to dream." Ranieri thought the draw with United was a fair result. "United started very very well, moved the ball very well, and it was very difficult for us to restart and make something good," he said.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and Manchester United counterpart Jose Mourinho both insisted the London side's 2-0 win on Sunday was not about them, or their rivalry, but in many ways it was.
It is time to deliver for Paris St Germain and Manchester City as the two mega-rich teams prepare to lock horns in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.
Chelsea goalscorer Willian said they must go on the attack against Barcelona at the Nou Camp next month to have any chance of reaching the Champions League quarter-finals.
'We lost two games but these two games were totally different. Against Crystal Palace we didn't deserve to lose. Today we deserved to lose the game'
Luton pulled one back on the half-hour mark when Chelsea keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga failed to keep out Jordan Clark's low effort which squeezed between his hand and leg into the net.
Juergen Klopp has said his Liverpool team must be prepared to play ugly football to secure Champions League qualification following the injury to productive forward Sadio Mane ahead of Wednesday's Premier League clash against Bournemouth.
Guardiola has crafted a sleek offensive unit but, after a breathless opening 15 minutes at The Emirates, they appeared to ease off as their intensity levels dropped and they allowed Arsenal back into the match.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Wednesday.
Spoils were shared in two huge Premier League derbies, Chelsea's cracking start continued with a 3-0 win over Aston Villa and Wayne Rooney produced a Jekyll and Hyde display in a nervy Manchester United victory on Saturday.
Spoils were shared in two huge Premier League derbies, Chelsea's cracking start continued with a 3-0 win over Aston Villa and Wayne Rooney produced a Jekyll and Hyde display in a nervy Manchester United victory on Saturday.
Premier League Leeds United suffered the biggest upset of the FA Cup third round when they fell to a 3-0 defeat by fourth-tier Crawley Town on Sunday
Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech has made a surprise return to Chelsea's training ground ahead of Sunday's big London derby after Adidas sent a consignment of gloves to his former club by mistake. Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink, whose misfiring champions travel to Cech's Premier League leaders on Sunday, made light of the situation at a news conference on Friday. "I was here when Petr showed up. It was nice to see him," the Dutchman told reporters at the Cobham facility to the south-west of London. "We had a chat here. Almost everyone was gone already, it was late afternoon....we tried to hide them, which he did not accept. Also we tried to make them a little bit slippery but he discovered that also. "They were wrongly sent here and we gave them back. It was nice. That's the story."
However, cracks in the relationship surfaced this season as the team's form slumped, with the first signs appearing as early as August when Mourinho hauled Terry off at halftime during a 3-0 defeat to ManchesterCity.
'If you are a big player, and paid like a big player, you must play like a big player and behave like a big player'
Following this stunning turn-around of fortunes for Barcelona, here is a flashback of some of the best come-from-behind wins recorded in Europe's premier club competition.
Jose Mourinho believes his Chelsea team could challenge for the Champions League this season despite their woeful form in the Premier League.
Federico Valverde finished off a stunning move in extra time to give Real Madrid a 3-2 victory over arch-rivals Barcelona
Chelsea's players must look at themselves and start performing, former Blues stalwart Frank Lampard said as speculation continues to swirl over the future of manager Jose Mourinho.
His first overseas coaching adventure -- Maurizio Sarri has chosen a devilishly difficult league to try and make it happen and a club not exactly known for its patience.
Philippe Coutinho scored twice as Liverpool recovered from an early deficit to beat struggling Premier League champions Chelsea 3-1 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday and pile more pressure on Blues manager Jose Mourinho.
"I cannot understand what the official behind the goal does because he doesn't make a clear decision too."
Brighton & Hove Albion scored three times in the second half to fight back from two goals down and beat Manchester City
Jose Mourinho was delighted that Chelsea made a winning start to their Champions League campaign on Wednesday, but said he was not happy that Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal had all lost their opening matches.
RB Leipzig scored twice in the opening 13 minutes but had to survive a late comeback from Manchester United to cling on to a 3-2 win on Tuesday that sent them into the Champions League knockout stage and eliminated the English side.
News of all that transpired on and off the field.
Jose Mourinho's unbeaten Manchester United face the biggest test yet of their title credentials when they visit Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday -- a fixture that always has a little extra spice.
Two months after dropping him following a string of mistakes, ManchesterCity manager Manuel Pellegrini on Friday hailed goalkeeper Joe Hart as "the best in England".
The 24-year-old has scored three league goals already and Shevchenko, who never replicated his superb goalscoring record for AC Milan in three subsequent years at Chelsea, believes there is much more to come from the Spaniard.
Sergio Aguero struck twice as Manchester City came from behind to beat Burnley 2-1 at Turf Moor in the Premier League on Saturday.
A round-up of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Fernando Torres knows he needs to do more to justify his British record transfer fee although he feels there has been an exaggerated reaction to the bad moments he has endured since joining Chelsea in January 2011.
Tottenham Hotspur's England duo Harry Kane and Dele Alli fired them to a comfortable 2-0 win over mid-table Watford that cemented their place in the top four at Wembley on Monday.
Victor Moses has become the third player to join Liverpool on Monday, with the forward signing on a season-long loan from Chelsea, the Premier League club confirmed.
Liverpool's hopes of qualifying for the Champions League all but ended.
There was no celebratory run down the touchline, no dancing on the pitch, just a sober reflection of a job well done from Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho on Sunday after his side beat Crystal Palace to win the Premier League title.
The self-styled "Special One" faces what he agreed is a special fixture this weekend but Jose Mourinho refused to accept that beating Manchester United to establish a 10-point lead with six games left would mean Chelsea had won the Premier League.
