Gary Armstrong 
Comments from Jose Mourinho regarding the potential of Eden Hazard sparked discussion across the country as to whether or not he can break into the top bracket of football that currently consists of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. For me, I think he can and his performance against Newcastle yesterday only confirmed my views on the little Belgian playmaker.
Those who sat down to watch today’s early kick off will not have been disappointed. Unless they were affiliated to Arsenal that is. The Gunners travelled to Merseyside to take on fourth place Liverpool looking to stretch their lead at the top of the Premier League table, but things didn’t go to plan for the capital side.
Chelsea have a big few months ahead of them. The Blues are within touching distance of the top of the Premier League table, they are still in the Champions League and are also in the FA Cup, so come the end of the season Blues fans may be celebrating a little more than the fact Jose Mourinho is back at the helm. In order to do it though, I would suggest using the loan market to their advantage.
If Anne Robinson was a Liverpool fan, she’d be telling Brendan Rodgers that his left-back area is the weakest link. With Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge doing the business up top for the Reds and their midfield unit setting up to support that, the defence has visibly been the least impressive area of their squad, and more specifically the left-back berth.
Wayne Rooney may split opinions across the globe as a person, but there can be few people who have a genuine reason to doubt his talent. He has proved to be a remarkable player since the day who stood up and pinged his shot past David Seaman as a young boy in an Everton shirt, and I would argue that he is already a Manchester United legend. But, being a Chelsea fan, I am a little jealous and I want him at Stamford Bridge.
Swansea endured another frustrating outing against West Ham on Saturday, as they fell to a 2-0 defeat thanks to a brace from Hammers captain Kevin Nolan. A difficult weekend was followed by the news that Michael Laudrup would no longer continue as Swansea manager, with Garry Monk taking charge ahead of this week’s game against local rivals Cardiff.
Gus Poyet’s celebration may have been slightly more muted than Di Canio’s knee slide on the grass in the last Tyne and Wear derby, but this victory was just as important for the Mackems. They host Hull, who held Champions League hopefuls Tottenham to a draw on Saturday.
A battling performance from Aston Villa was not quite enough to prevent them slipping to a 2-1 defeat to Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday. Leandro Bacuna had opened the scoring with a neat finish, but it was a superb freekick from Kevin Mirallas which settled matters to leave Villa 10th in the league.