A win, a clean sheet and three points in the bag, this sounds like the perfect recipe for a Saturday afternoon for this Chelsea team who have had a horrendous time off late, and this is what we got as Chelsea cruised to a 3-0 win over a below-par Wolves team.

There was a first start for Oriol Romeu as Frank Lampard was rested, while the rest of the team picked itself with Florent Malouda making way for the ever-impressive Daniel Sturridge.

Chelsea have been on a terrible run of form over the past month, winning just two out of seven games which has seen them slip to fifth spot in the league, but then the opponents, Wolves, were in even worse position; winning just one league game in over three months.

So, a game which would have been a home banker had the potential to be a much more even contest, but from the first minute of the game it was clear that it wasn’t to be.

Chelsea started the match brightly and was on the attack from the kick-off.

Raul Meireles was there in all the Chelsea attacks at the beginning, making the trademark Frank Lampard forward runs, and could have opened the scoring inside the first few minutes but failed to hit the target, first with a weakly  hit shot from distance, and then missed his kick from a Branislav Ivanovic cutback.

There was no relief for Wolves as Ramires then stole the ball away from Nenad Milijas and broke with venom, with Didier Drogba giving him a supporting role and taking defenders away, and released a low powerful drive which was brilliantly saved by Wayne Hennessey.

From the resultant Juan Mata corner, John Terry beat his marker, Roger Johnson, to head it in; albeit a deflection of their big-money summer signing to put Chelsea ahead inside the first 10 minutes.

It took more than 22 minutes for Wolves to muster their first chance of the night when good work down the left created an opening for Ward, but with the Ireland International so far out, he couldn’t direct his header and it failed to trouble Cech in goal.

Chelsea enjoyed lots of room and were rarely put under any sort of pressure, and in particular the Wolves full-backs, without any support, struggled throughout the first half, therein giving the Chelsea full-backs an easy route to move forward and deciding our way of attack.

This weakness was again exposed when Raul Meireles released Juan Mata, and the Spaniard easily went past Ronald Zubar to put it on the plate for Daniel Sturridge to double Chelsea’s lead.

Ashley Cole recovered from the ankle knock that kept him out of the Bayern Leverkusen game in midweek to start in the back four which now seems to be finally getting a sense of stability about it as John Terry, David Luiz & Branislav Ivanovic continue to start alongside the former Arsenal man, who has now made more appearances in a Blue shirt than in the red & white.

And Cole was a menace throughout for the Wolves team as he put in a great cross for Mata to score the third Chelsea goal on the stroke of half-time.

The start of the second half was again the same story as Ramires tested Wayne Hennessey from a brilliant volley.

This time though it didn’t take long for Wolves to create a chance of their own.  After some nice build-up play, Sylvain Ebanks-Blake found Ward with neat through ball, but once again Stephen Ward failed to hit the target in what was Wolves best chance on the night.

Chelsea continued their patient passing game and could have gone ahead further when Sturridge went on an impressive run after being released by Ramires on the halfway line, as he went past Christopher Berra with ease and glided into the box and looked for a fellow Chelsea player, only to see his pass cleared off the line.

There was still no pressure on the Chelsea players as Didier Drogba shot from distance after being given ample space. Then Juan Mata should have really made it four when a save off Sturridge shot rebounded to him, but he stuck his first time shot straight at Hennessey.

Wolves then themselves forced Petr Cech into a similar double save; Matt Jarvis tested Petr Cech from the edge of the box, and his shot was parried away, but luckily for Jarvis it rebounded straight to him and he found Ward with his cutback. Ward released a powerful shot but Cech was again there to clear the danger.

Chelsea continued to push and probe a hapless Wolves side, but didn’t manage to add to the three goals in the first half in what was a very comfortable afternoon for Chelsea players and fans alike.

Daniel Sturridge continued to threaten and added another goal to his impressive early season tally, while Juan Mata enjoyed a good day out after struggling to make any impact for the past few weeks.

Oriol Romeu also put in a decent shift in, but there will be sterner tests from him in the future after enjoying a comfortable and steady game.

Andre Villas-Boas epitomized the importance of three points, but maintained that a lot of works still needs to be done, he said; ‘We’re not going to fill ourselves with arrogance and think this is going to be a good period from now on.

‘We have to wait and see but what makes us proud in this difficult situation is that if we reflect on the games we played we didn’t deserve the results we ended up with and today we continued by being the same team but finally ended up with getting the result.

‘It was important for us to get the three points and we managed to shorten the distance to United and Newcastle but for us to be a continuous threat we will need to continue to win and we have a game against Newcastle soon then a game against the leaders to show we are a quality side. So let’s wait and see but today was important. ‘

Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Ivanovic (Bosingwa 76), D Luiz, Terry (c), Cole; Ramires, Romeu, Meireles (Lampard 69); Sturridge, Drogba (Torres 76), Mata.

Scorers: Terry 6, Sturridge 28, Mata 44.

What would have been classed as a simple match some three months ago, takes on an entirely different look as our woeful form leaves us ripe for the picking.

We’ve seen many ‘signs’ that improvement is only around the corner, spells in matches where it’s clicked again and we’re playing as we can, these are all too rare however, and teams are playing us with their tails up.

Wolves will fancy their chances against a Chelsea side bereft of confidence, and who’s line up is unlikely to spring any surprises.

With Ivanovic returning from suspension we should see him return to the centre of defence alongside JT, with the now traditional Paulo start, Jose finish at right back, and Cole on the left hand side.

Lampard will hopefully continue his return to full fitness alongside Essien and Ramires, with Mikel, Zhirkov and Benayoun all still unavailable. Drogba, Anelka, Kalou and Malouda will fill the three front spots, and one place on the bench.

Carlo spoke of his attacking options, and admitted they’ve been under par; “They didn’t score many goals in the last month but Didier Drogba has started to score and Florent Malouda scored against Bolton. ”

“The bad moment is behind them, now I hope Anelka can start to score as well.  Sturridge also has the quality; he will have more opportunity to play for us up front at the beginning of games.”

Chelsea loanee Michael Mancienne is one who’s able to give a good insight into what we may face from Wolves tonight; “It’s definitely going to be a tough game for Chelsea because Wolves need points and they’ve been playing well recently. ”

“The crowd at Molineux is good, they get behind the team and really support the boys, so they’ll make it difficult because it’s a massive game, a really important one for both teams. They’ve done well against the big teams and will be fired up for it.”

Speaking of his loan, he said; “I’ve got a bit of an injury at the minute so I’m staying at Cobham to get it right before I go back to Wolves on loan until the end of the season. Hopefully I’ll be back playing within two or three weeks. I was playing a lot before I got injured but the injury has gradually come on until the point where I couldn’t really run on it.”

You can follow us for match updates on Twitter.

They huffed and they puffed, but Carlo Ancelotti’s table-topping Chelsea eventually blew down a rather stout house built by a tough Wolverhampton Wanderers side on Saturday.

That’ll do for the fairy tale references, but as far as starts to the season go, the Blues will be pretty happy with the way the script has gone.

Goals in each half from Florent Malouda and Salomon Kalou respectively ensured that Manchester City will be no closer than two points behind the defending champions when this weekend goes in the books, whilst a new club record for consecutive home league clean sheets was set.

Since John Carew’s goal for Aston Villa in late March, Petr Cech’s goal has not been breached in the Barclays Premier League. Thirty-eight goals have gone in at the other end in the eight matches since, trumping the previous run set during Jose Mourinho’s tenure.

Jose Bosingwa was handed a first start in over a year as his rehabilitation from a long-term injury nears completion, whilst Didier Drogba was restored to the lineup after missing the trip to Moscow with a fever.

Kalou and Daniel Sturridge took places amongst the substitutes after missing out with minor niggles in recent weeks.

Wolves were missing captain Karl Henry and Chelsea loanee Michael Mancienne, but despite not having won since the opening day they arrived at Stamford Bridge in confident mood.

Much has been made of their ‘aggressive’ approach in recent weeks, but they did their best to dispel that particular media myth and on another day could have found the back of the net.

This one was certainly not the procession of a year ago, when Michael Essien led a 4-0 rout of a struggling outfit. A more mature, more wise top-flight outfit caused problems for Chelsea all afternoon.

The hosts always appeared to be in control, but the fluency of play witnessed at times so far this season was missing for large spells of the match.

A tame header from David Edwards deserved more as Matthew Jarvis looked impressive on the right, whilst at the other end both Chelsea full-backs got forward with interest, and Bosingwa went agonisingly close to scoring only to be denied by a fine Marcus Hahnemann save.

It took until midway through the first half to find the breakthrough, and it came whilst most of the 41,000 strong home crowd were booing the emergence of Stephen Hunt to the touchline to warm up.

Nicolas Anelka played an intelligent ball down the left to release Yury Zhirkov, and the in-form Russian showed awareness and composure to cut the ball back to the wide open Florent Malouda.

The Frenchman tapped into the back of the net from eight yards out to notch his seventh goal in as many league outings.

Further chances fell to Anelka and Nenad Milijas, with supporters fooled on each occasion that the ball had found the back of the net, but the former found the side netting whilst the latter watched his effort cleared from close range.

The second half witnessed more of the same, as Kevin Doyle kept Cech in check whilst quick thinking from Hahnemann caused Drogba to dally on the ball when clear through as another opportunity went to waste.

With time running out, fresh legs were introduced in the form of Kalou and Paulo Ferreira, and the Ivorian needed less than ten minutes to put the game to bed with his sixth goal of the campaign.

Chelsea’s best move of the day saw Didier Drogba and Michael Essien combine to carve out an opening which was confidently dispatched at the near post to secure another three points.

Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Bosingwa (Ferreira 78), Ivanovic, Terry (c), Cole; Essien, Mikel, Zhirkov (McEachran 83); Malouda (Kalou 72), Anelka, Drogba
Scorers: Malouda 23, Kalou 81.

There’s no such thing as a forgone conclusion in football, so we don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves, however tomorrows match appears on paper as one sided as you can get.

With our 100% home record and 14 goals scored, with none yet conceded, and Wolves having only taken one point away from home, form would suggest that another three points is in the offing.

Didier Drogba will return to lead the line after missing the Villa and Moscow matches, and Jose Bosingwa will also be making his first start for Chelsea in over a year. Daniel Sturridge is also expected to make the squad.

“Everyone is excited about seeing him play,” said Ancelotti of our Portuguese right back, “I hope everything will be okay of him. After one year we have to be patient with him but he had a fantastic period of training and he is fit 100 per cent.”

Malouda and Anelka are expected to start alongside Drogba up front, however Kakuta could get still the nod ahead of either of them with both having played the majority of the match in Moscow.

Alex and Ramires are still both missing with thigh and ankle injuries respectively, which should mean Zhirkov will continue on the left of midfield alongside Mikel and Essien. Frank Lampard is still not yet 100% after his hernia operation, however isn’t far from a return to action.

Carlo said of Lampard yesterday; “Now he is training individually and everything is okay, he is training very well. The next step will be to train with the team during the training session and after to play. I don’t think he will be able to play from the beginning against Blackburn but I think the game after that he can play.”

Ivanovic should start centrally alongside Terry, with Ashley Cole and Bosingwa completing the defence, with Cech of course in goal. Should the match run to form and we end up a few goals to the good early on, we may even see some more playing for the likes of McEachran, Bruma and Van Aanholt.

Wolves striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake said of his teams trip to Stamford Bridge; “All games in this league are difficult but we know these may be more difficult than most. Chelsea are obviously a very good side. Not only can they score a few goals but they are hard to break down.”

Chelsea hate figure Stephen Hunt is doubtful as he continues his comeback from a foot injury, Kevin Doyle is sidelined with a knee injury, with Ronald Zubar and Jody Craddock both doubtful with ankle problems. Chelsea loanee Michael Mancienne is unavailable due to the loan deal between the clubs.

That match kicks off at a super rare 3pm Saturday, and you can follow us for updates on Twitter.

Chelsea laboured to a 2-0 win at Wolves thanks to another brace from Didier Drogba, taking his season total to 25 in all competitions.

However, Manchester United’s crushing defeat at Goodison Park now sees Chelsea open up a four point lead atop the English Premier League.

Paulo Ferreira made a rare league start at right back, whilst Florent Malouda started on the left of the midfield four. Drogba and Anelka were paired together in attack, supported by Joe Cole.

Wolves showed decent attacking impetus in the opening exchanges, Kevin Doyle forcing Cech to save twice. The first was a comfortable stop, the second an excellent one at his near post. In between, Michael Ballack volleyed over the bar.

With six minutes left in the first half though, Chelsea took the lead and to be fair, it was harsh on Wolves. Yuri Zhirkov played a delightful one two with Ballack, before crossing to Drogba to slide home at the back post.

Cech made a super stop early in the second half, reacting brilliantly to stop a stinging Guedioura volley at the back post. A minute later, the Blues lost Zhirkov to injury, his replacement Bruma moving to right back with Ferreira moving across to the left. Losing the Russian would be a huge blow against Inter.

Cech made another great save before Drogba closed the game out, latching on to a long ball from the Chelsea keeper, proceeding to round the Wolves keeper and easily finish.

Professional from Chelsea, but it’ll have to be something more to beat Inter in midweek.

Just four days out from the trip to play Jose Mourinho’s Internazionale, Chelsea have another less glamorous away trip to Wolverhampton, to take on Mick McCarthy’s side.

Chelsea have a one point lead at the top of the table heading into this match, whilst Wolves are just a point outside the bottom three.

Chelsea have injury problems, with Alex, Belletti, Essien, Bosingwa, Ashley Cole and Lampard all out of action. Wolves centre half Michael Mancienne, who has played in midfield of late, is ineligible as he is on loan from the Blues.

Chelsea’s last visit to Molineux was in 2003, the first season of Roman Abramovich’s epic spending spree. Big money signings Hernan Crespo and Damien Duff scored, the popular Argentine netting his first two goals for Chelsea.

Frank Lampard and Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink scored the other goals. Of the present squads, Jody Craddock, Frank Lampard and Joe Cole were involved back then.

The reverse fixture this season was in late November, which saw Chelsea comfortable 4-0 winners. In addition to goals from Joe Cole and Florent Malouda, Michael Essien scored twice as Wolves were easily outplayed.

Ladbrokes has Wolves at 8/1 long shots, despite being at home, whilst the draw is paying 7/2. Chelsea, away from home, are strong favourites at 4/11.