Cheered by the midweek goal feast, club historian Rick Glanvill and club statistician Paul Dutton prepare for the long-trip to Wearside.

Rick warns of opposition comfortable on their home patch.

Milestones were passed again on Wednesday. The 6-1 beating of poor Derby County was our best ever result against the Rams, and Frank Lampard's 107th Chelsea goal moved him up to seventh place in the list of all-time Chelsea marksman alongside another former Hammer, centre-forward George Hilsdon.

For a midfielder to equal the tally of 'Gatling Gun', Chelsea's first centenarian in the 1900s and the model for the famous weather vane that stands atop Stamford Bridge, is simply stunning. Lamps's next target is the 123 notched by our popular pre-war number 9, George Mills.

He would do well to take a similarly big leap towards that total on Saturday evening however. Don't be fooled by Sunderland's position of fifth from bottom, two points from a relegation place having played a game more than Bolton. It is only their abysmal performances away from the Stadium of Light that have dragged them down - no wins and 12 losses in 15.

Their home record is better than that of Portsmouth, Blackburn, West Ham and Tottenham, and as hosts they have lost only the same number of games as Villa: four. They don't score a lot of goals on Wearside - 17 to date - but 14 is not a fearsome amount to have conceded either.

They arrive at this crucial game not having won in three matches, however. Last weekend in the blustery north-east they were seen off 0-1 by Everton. The Toffees had slaughtered the Mackems 7-1 at Goodison back in November, so are Roy Keane's team showing renewed defensive vigilance?

The Everton game revealed Keane's liking for a 4-5-1 formation with his current available players. The twist on what is generally regarded as a conservative line-up is that the former United hardman fits attack-minded players in the midfield block, such as former Arsenal trainee striker Anthony Stokes or Michael Chopra wide right, Daryl Murphy the opposite flank and Rade Prica in the centre.

Even their central midfielder Kieran Richardson was a winger in his time at Manchester United. Since Liam Miller's tenacity is now missing for reasons of indiscipline, though, against Everton it lent fluidity but also flimsiness to the Mackems' middle.

The slightly worrying news for Chelsea is that the single striker is likely to be Kenwyne Jones, the spring-heeled and bothersome Trinidadian who is the most likely candidate to produce a performance like Kayode Odejaye did for Barnsley last weekend.

At some stage the tricky winger Carlos Edwards will make his long-awaited return from injury too (probably not the full 90 minutes since he played an hour for the reserves on Wednesday). Edwards' incisive crossing coupled with Jones's aerial ability conjures images of how the Chelsea rearguard has been breached in recent weeks.

Not that Jones has been in prolific form: he has a return of one goal in his last 18 appearances, and none since the turn of the year. In fact Sunderland haven't scored at all for over a month.

At the back the Wearsiders' outstanding performer has been central defender Nyron Nosworthy. Statisticians have recently suggested he is the Premier League's most consistent tackler, with an 86 per cent success rate. Five-and-a-half years ago for Gillingham, he was out-jumped by Carlton Cole from Jody Morris's cross in a 2-1 Chelsea cup win.

Keane is now happy to hail £9m Scots keeper Craig Gordon, who was criticised earlier in the season and dropped following the Everton drubbing - he missed Chelsea's 2-0 win in December with Darren Ward deputising. The Irish manager thinks Gordon has toughened up and has the potential to become one of the best in his craft.

With all the anguish of domestic cups - and even without injured goalie Petr Cech - Chelsea have played just two Premier League games in the last six weeks, winning them on an aggregate 10-1. Points dropped by the leading two, coupled with the fact that both United and Arsenal have to visit the Bridge, mean that if Chelsea win all remaining league games, our points total could not be bettered come May.

Of course, the sudden and alarming cup lapses have put into question whether the team can sustain such a run. But there can be no greater incentive to achieve a third successive win at the Stadium of Light, proving the doubters wrong.


SUNDERLAND V CHELSEA - Paul Dutton with all the necessary stats for the Stadium of Light.

Chelsea will be looking for a seventh straight win against Sunderland and third in a row at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland last beat us in 2000/01 when they achieved the double over us winning 4-2 at Stamford Bridge and 1-0 at the Stadium of Light. Kevin Phillips was the lone scorer with a penalty just after the hour. A few minutes later Graeme Le Saux and Kevin Kilbane were both shown the red card.

The Blues have the best away record in the Premier League with 29 points from 14 games having won at Reading, Bolton, Middlesbrough, Wigan, Derby, Blackburn, Fulham, Birmingham and West Ham, drawn at Liverpool and Portsmouth and lost at Arsenal, Aston Villa and Man Utd.

Sunderland's defeat at the Stadium of Light last Sunday ended a four home game winning run that lifted them out of the relegation zone.

We are unbeaten in five away games in the Premier League (four wins, one draw).

Chelsea have won four of the last nine games in all competitions.

In the last 18 away games we have kept 12 clean sheets and conceded only six goals.

The Black Cats have the eighth best home record with 24 of their 27 points achieved at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland have gone nearly five hours since Daryl Murphy scored their last goal, against Wigan on 9th February.

Eight of their 27 goals have been scored in the final five minutes.

The Mackems have the fifth best average Premier League attendance with 42,394 behind Man Utd 75,624, Arsenal 60,061, Newcastle 51,067 and Liverpool 43,529. Chelsea have the seventh highest 41,476.

Their league record at The Stadium of Light this season is won seven (Tottenham 1-0, Reading 2-1, Derby 1-0, Bolton 3-1, Portsmouth 2-0, Birmingham 2-0, Wigan 2-0), drawn three (Fulham 1-1, Newcastle 1-1, Aston Villa 1-1) and lost four (Liverpool 0-2, Blackburn 1-2, Man Utd 0-4, Everton 0-1).

Our Premier League record against Sunderland at Roker Park and the Stadium of Light is as follows:
1996/97 Sunderland won 3-0
1999/00 Sunderland won 4-1
2000/01 Sunderland won 1-0
2001/02 Drew 0-0
2002/03 Chelsea won 2-1
2005/06 Chelsea won 2-1

Chelsea have been beaten four times (Man Utd away, Arsenal away, Tottenham at Wembley and Barnsley away) in 39 games in all competitions under Avram Grant in a run that has seen 27 wins and 24 clean sheets.

Chelsea have played 47 games in all competitions winning 30, drawing 12 and losing five. We have scored 81 goals, conceded 30 and have kept 26 clean sheets. We have failed to score on 10 occasions.

The Black Cats' last six games
Jan 29 Birmingham (h) W 2-0
Feb 2 Liverpool (a) L 0-3
Feb 9 Wigan (h) W 2-0
Feb 23 Portsmouth (a) L 0-1
Mar 1 Derby (a) D 0-0
Mar 9 Everton (h) L 0-1

Sunderland have played 31 games in all competitions (16 fewer than Chelsea) winning seven, losing 18 and drawing six. They have scored 26 goals, conceded 53, have kept six clean sheets and failed to score 14 times.

Andy Johnson scored the only goal of the game after 55 minutes in Saturday's home defeat to high-flying Everton. Team (4-5-1): Gordon; Bardsley, Nosworthy, Evans, Collins; Stokes (Chopra h/t), Whitehead (c), Leadbitter (Prica 75), Richardson, Murphy (Reid 67); Jones.

Premier League scorers:
Sunderland (26): Jones 5, Chopra 3 (1 pen), Murphy 3, Richardson 3, Higginbotham 2, Leadbitter 2, Wallace 2, Etuhu 1, John 1, Miller 1, Prica 1, Stokes 1, Yorke 1.
Chelsea (48): Lampard 10 (3 pens), Kalou 6, J Cole 5, Drogba 5, Ballack 4 (1 pen), Shevchenko 4 (1 pen), Essien 3, Alex 2, Belletti 2, Pizarro 2, Wright-Phillips 2, Anelka 1, A Cole 1, Malouda 1.

In the reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge on December 8th, an Andriy Shevchenko header after 23 minutes and a Frank Lampard penalty after Danny Higginbotham brought down Alex with 15 minutes to go secured the three points. Liam Miller was sent off in the last few minutes.

Chelsea are third, five points behind leaders Arsenal (66) with the Tottenham away match in hand with 61 points from 28 games. Man Utd are second with 64, then come Liverpool and Everton on 56.
Sunderland are 16th, two points above the drop zone with 27 points.

This weekend's other games featuring the top clubs are: Derby v Man Utd (Sat 3pm), Liverpool v Reading (Sat 3pm), Arsenal v Middlesbrough (Sat 5.15pm) and Fulham v Everton (Sun 1.30pm).

There are no suspensions on either side.

Sunderland's last major piece of silverware was the FA Cup in 1973 when Ian Porterfield scored the winner for the Second Division side against Leeds. They have won the League on six occasions, the last being in 1936.

Carlo Cudicini, if selected, will make his 200th start for the club.

Congratulations to Nicolas Anelka who celebrates his 29th birthday today (Friday).

The referee is Mike Dean, whose Chelsea games this season include both victories over Reading and the 0-2 defeat at Old Trafford, after which he was criticised for sending off John Mikel Obi.

Chelsea's overall record against Sunderland in all competitions is: played 105, won 46, drawn 21, lost 38

Head to head in the league at Roker Park and the Stadium of Light: played 50, won 13, drawn 9, lost 28.

OUR LAST VISIT TO THE STADIUM OF LIGHT
Sunderland 1 Chelsea 2
Premiership, Sunday January 15th 2006
Sunderland (4-4-2) Davis; Hoyte, Breen (c), Caldwell, Collins; Lawrence, Whitehead, Miller, Arca; Le Tallec (Gray 81), Stead (Murphy 81).
Manager Mick McCarthy
Booked Stead
Scorer Lawrence (12)
Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Gallas, Carvalho, Terry (c), Del Horno; Gudjohnsen (Huth 82), Makelele, Lampard; J Cole (Duff 62), Crespo (C Cole 72), Robben.
Manager José Mourinho.
Sent off Robben. Booked C Cole
Scorers Crespo (27), Robben (68)
Referee Chris Foy
Crowd 32,420
A new club record of 10 consecutive league wins on the spin was established. Following Manchester Utd's defeat the day before, the gap at the top rose to 16 points. Arjen Robben was sent off after receiving his second yellow for celebrating with the Chelsea away support.