Chelsea 3-0 West Ham: The one before Christmas

Thiago Silva and Olivier Giroud getting better with age 

Despite not quite hitting the halfway point in the season for matches played, Christmas is always a good marker for assessing the season so far. While Chelsea are currently sat in fifth following the win over London rivals West Ham, they're just 2 points off of second. In a very strange season, that saw the influx of eight new players to bed in without any pre-season at all - it's a decent position.

Chelsea 4-1 Sheffield: The one that made a statement

The scene was set for a stumble. Bottom of the Premier League Sheffield United had not won a match since the last time they faced Chelsea. Inside ten minutes David McGoldrick had fired the Blades into the lead. The man has scored a total of four Premier League goals ever -- and three of them have come against the Blues. Cheers Arsenal for taking the edge off...

There was a sense of deja vu in the opening stages of this match. But with all those new faces buzzing about the pitch they weren't going to suffer the same fate as their teammates last season.

Man United 0-0 Chelsea: The one where no one wanted to make a mistake

Like a city bus, you wait your managerial career for a goalless draw to come along and get two in less than a week. You are welcome neutrals. The Premier League had become a little too fun this season with mad results and goals galore. It's important to have balance -- something Chelsea could do with a little more of at the moment.

While loathe to ever agree with the musings of a mad man, Patrice Evra did make a solid point when he went to war with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink following Man United's stalemate with Chelsea. Both teams were playing from a position of fear. Neither side were willing to open themselves up in case they found their defence under siege.