Chelsea's best XI of the season so far: Petr Cech has been better than Thibaut Courtois
ANALYSIS: Based on statistics across the season, Jose Mourinho may want to slightly tweak his starting XI if he wants to continue title march
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho's starting XI is pretty easy to predict.
Out of the 29 games the Blues have played this season, three players have started every one and 11 players have started at least 21 matches.
Injury and suspension is usually the only reason Mourinho has changed his starting line-up, with the manager rarely feeling the need to change what has been a dominant team all season.
Part of that has been the failure of some of Chelsea's second-string when given the chance to impress, like in the embarrassing FA Cup defeat to Bradford.
While Chelsea may be in an extremely strong position heading into the final weeks of the season, is Mourinho right to continue with the same side?
Our friends at
Whoscored.com produce a rating for every player, based on every aspect of their performances in the Premier League this season. The figure is considered among the most accurate, respected and well-known performance indicators in the world of football. Exact details on how it is calculated can be found
here.
Using the tool, we've looked at the best line-up for the Blues (and there's not many surprises).
ARSENAL
Arsenal and England winger revealed all in a Facebook Q&A
Theo Walcott has revealed his favourite biscuit, TV show and his hatred of Marmite in a Q&A session for Facebook.
The Arsenal man also revealed that he believes in ghosts and loves golf and claimed to be the fastest player in the England squad - the first album he bought was by rapper Ja Rule.
Walcott is expected to start for England in Turin when Roy Hodgson's team play a friendly against Italy, and may even partner Harry Kane up front.
Perhaps surprisingly, Walcott answered that he preferred the 'original' Ronaldo - the Brazilian World Cup winner - to the 'new' Ronaldo, Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
The 26-year-old also revealed who he preferred out of Jay-Z and Kanye West, whether he preferred The Simpsons or Family Guy, Gogglebox or The Great British Bake off and whether he liked apples or oranges.
Walcott's Arsenal face rivals Liverpool in a crucial Premier League clash at the Emirates on Sunday.
Southampton in profit for first time since 2009 to tune of £33.4m
Southampton have announced after tax profits of £33.4m for the year ending 30 June 2014, their first full-year profit since the club went into administration in 2009.
St Mary’s Football Group Limited audited annual results showed a £33.4m profit on ordinary activities compared to a £7.1million loss in 2013.
Total revenue increased to £106m from £71.8m in 2013 while group wages, including players, increased from £41.4m in 2013 to £55.2m in 2014.
Southampton’s chief executive officer, Gareth Rogers, said: “There are lots of positives to take from these financial results. Recording the first profit and positive net asset position for the first time since administration in 2009 is very pleasing. It shows the health of the club and the group is strong and the foundations are there to be built on.”
Southampton’s debt now stands at approximately £50m, of which approximately £19m is owed to Vibrac, £15m shareholder’s loan and a further £15m secured on the shareholder’s estate.
A big factor in the increase in revenue was due to the increase of television money, with payments increasing from £46.9m in 2012-13 to £79.4m in 2013-14, while commercial income has increased from £6.7m in 2012-13 to £8.3m in 2013-14.
Rogers added: “Our focus remains on developing significant commercial growth which will support our vision to create a sustainable business model.
“We have a strong business plan in place and we’re already seeing the green shoots of that plan. We believe it is possible to be a well-managed, well-structured football club that is successful both on and off the pitch.”
Everton’s Ross Barkley believes loss of form will make him stronger
The Everton midfielder
Ross Barkley accepts his form this season has fallen below his best but insists he is not feeling the pressure.
The 21-year-old’s fortunes on the pitch have mirrored that of his team as neither have been able to reproduce the standards of last season, when a fine campaign saw the Toffees finish fifth after being in contention for the Champions League for a long period.
Barkley has struggled to rediscover the form which made him such an integral part of the team’s success but he is working hard to get back to his best.
“From my point of view I haven’t done as well as I know I can, but things like this happen,”
the England international told Premier League World. You have to go through bad days to get to the great days you have in your career.
“Everything’s a learning curve. We haven’t been going through the best period at the moment but we’re going to come through this and be really good at the end of it.
“I don’t feel pressure. I believe in myself and I know what I can do. It’s not me feeling pressure, it’s just me putting pressure on myself if I don’t do my best, and I know I can do better.
“I just focus on getting better every day, putting things right in training and then hopefully what I’m doing right in training I’m going to show in games as well.”
Barkley, when he has started, has found himself switching positions regularly and has not been given a long spell behind the centre-forward where he was most effective last season. Many observers appear to have pencilled him in for a deeper midfield role but he does not feel that will get the best out of him.
“I’m a striker,” he said. “I feel I can have my greatest impact there because I’m free to roam around the pitch, take players on, have shots and create chances.”
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