I have been saying for quite a few weeks now this season’s Premier League could be the most interesting it has been for many, many years. Yes, the top of the league is currently populated by the usual suspects, Liverpool apart, but that hides the fact there is a fearlessness coursing throughout the entire division.

Graham Potter was right at the centre of it all before he came to Chelsea, with his Brighton side showing absolutely no dread wherever he took them. They appear to be carrying on in the same style now he has gone, with Klopp, Anfield and the Kop the latest to get the treatment at the weekend by Trossard and co. 

Patrick Vieira’s Crystal Palace showed the same level of disregard for our status by bravely putting out an ultra-attacking line-up at Selhurst Park. It underlined how difficult it is going to be for just about anyone to string a run of wins together this season. Arsenal have got off to a flyer, and well done them, but they too fought hard to get past Palace on the road earlier in the season, and they came a cropper in their first real test away from home, at Manchester United.  

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It will be a trial on the road every week. A certain amount of belief, confidence and resolve will be needed every single time, but also a willingness to keep on going right to the end.

Scoring in the last minute sometimes feels like luck, but it is amazing how often over the years good teams manage to break down resistance right at the death. in the 88th minute to win us three points against West Ham was a great example, but it seems to be a season when huge, match-changing events happen time and again in the dying embers of games. Effort throughout, and indeed good tactical and personnel changes late on, will be crucial this season. 

Conor Gallagher will be delighted, excited and let’s be honest a bit relieved that he has made such a massive contribution by getting his late winning goal and securing the three vital points. Managers love it when their sub scores or makes a goal, but from Conor’s position, the sending off against Leicester City must still have been weighing heavily on his mind.  The glorious moment when he was brought on in his favoured, much more advanced position, clarified just what he can add to the team, and will have been accompanied by a huge sigh of relief as he tried to curtail his celebrations out of respect for the fans and players that backed him last season [pictured top].   

It was of course another one of those moments when an ex-player comes back to break your heart, and this is something every Chelsea fan has felt acutely over the years. Each time a former Blue turns up, secretly we all worry there is a very good possibility he will torture us.

Looking ahead to tomorrow, there are plenty of talented players in the AC Milan side, but be honest with yourself, it’s Olivier Giroud who looks most likely to be the biggest problem for us. As ever, we will not be fuming with our former striker personally if he scores a goal, particularly if we get more than them by full-time.   

We will, however, feel exactly as the Palace fans felt at the weekend. Conor Gallagher was adored at Selhurst Park because of his ability, but also because of his tireless work rate, his perfect attitude and his respect for the fans whatever the circumstances. That is pretty much a mirror of how we would think of Olivier Giroud being back at Stamford Bridge. 

One way or another it should be a wonderful occasion. Chelsea v Milan pits two of the great names in European football against each other for one of the few times in our shared history.

Maybe the limited number of face-offs has been because the true glory days for Milan began to fade just as Chelsea began the journey to becoming one of the great clubs of the age. I would date the handover almost precisely to the years 2007 and 2008. They won the Champions League in 2007 with the likes of Maldini, Kaka, Pirlo and the two-goal Inzaghi breaking Liverpool hearts in the final, but they haven’t been quite the same force since.  

One year later we were in Moscow, missing out on being champions of Europe by the narrowest of margins in our first final. We went on to challenge at the top table for years, while Milan quickly faded. 

Right now, both sides seem as well matched as they have been for decades, with Milan even copying Chelsea at the weekend with their last-minute showstoppers. Conor Gallagher might have thought he left it late by notching in the 90th minute, but Fode Ballo-Toure and then Rafael Leao waited until the 93rd and 96th minutes to put the game to bed at Empoli. Leao’s dink would have impressed Chelsea ‘old boy’ Ramires, as it was almost a carbon copy of his incredible finish against Barcelona in the Nou Camp in 2012.  

It was only recently I found out Ramires had a tattoo of that goal on his leg, and a pretty impressive depiction it is too. Maybe Leao will skip the skin-deep memory as this wasn’t quite such an iconic strike. It was only in an away Serie A match as opposed to a Champions League semi-final, after all. 

Leao might even be prouder of his recent double in the Milan derby, when he and Olivier Giroud worked together to provide all three goals in a 3-2 win. So Milan are riding high again, but most importantly in our group, a win for the Italian side would see them disappearing out of our sights and make qualifying for us far less likely, but not impossible. This is clearly a time to have one of those special Chelsea Champions League nights. A win for us and the group becomes wide open again, even after our stuttering start.  

It is no exaggeration to say this is one of the most important games of the season for the club, considering the effect it will have on qualification. It is time to make Stamford Bridge rock, even more than the San Siro does on these occasions.