Southampton v Chelsea: Will Jose Mourinho rotate his players for another stern test?

Chelsea head coach Jose Mourinho

In the third of the quadruple of games over the busy Christmas and New Year period, Chelsea travel to Southampton after two impressive wins over Stoke and West Ham. Having played just two days ago I wonder exactly how many changes Jose Mourinho will make this afternoon?

It would be easy to ask the players to go again after having a day to recover yesterday as let's face it, they should all be in peak physical condition. I would play the same team that played West Ham off the pitch on Friday if it were my choice.

However, having said that no player will play all of these games we have to deal with in such a short space of time, and bearing in mind we face Tottenham on New Years Day at White Hart Lane, this appears to be the game that he makes changes. In saying that, it's no disrespect to our opponents in any way.

So what of potential changes, who do you see coming in?

For me, you have to look at how Diego Costa worked his socks off against West Ham to see that he needs a rest; especially after the hamstring problems he has had to deal with. Loic Remy should come in for a start as a result.

The same can be said of Willian this afternoon. He works so hard for the team and covers every single blade of grass that I can see Andre Schurrle coming in as his direct replacement.

Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas are all too important to our side so you would struggle to see them being rested. If they were then direct replacements would be Mikel; who has played well recently and Ramires for his work rate.

Filipe Luis could come into the side to replace Cesar Azpilicueta and Kurt Zouma to replace Gary Cahill.

It's such a difficult situation to manage and it's important to remember that Southampton face the same problems in addition to losing Ryan Bertrand for the game due to the fact he cannot play against his parent club due to the loan agreement between the two clubs.

You have to imagine that apart from Bertrand, Ronald Koeman would want to field his strongest team against us so why not Jose Mourinho do the same?

What is your opinion on this game and any changes we should make? Would you make changes and how many or would you play our strongest side once again?

Come on Chelsea!