Chelsea need to get a grip of their English Premier League campaign before their season unravels completely, with their first test beginning with an away trip to the Stadium of Light against Sunderland.
Crashing out of the Champions League after the group stages, while defending your title is not exactly what you need to boost your confidence that is already at one of its lowest points, as admitted by manager Rafa Benitez himself.
Despite winning 6-1 against Nordsjaelland, the Blues were knocked out of Europe's premier competition, meaning they will not be able to relive one of the club's most epic triumphs this season.
However, the positives to take out of the 6-1 win, was indeed the fluency they found in their attacking as well as the return of form of Fernando Torres. The much-maligned striker scored two goals in the big victory, and could have added a couple more as the Spaniard looked a lot like the striker Roman Abramovich paid £50 million ($80 million) for.
However, if you put it into perspective, it was a game against a Danish side, who were rookies in the Champions League and had nothing to play for, having already been eliminated from Europe. So Torres' and indeed Chelsea's real test will be against Sunderland on Saturday.
The Black Cats are struggling near the bottom of the table, having picked up just 13 points from 15 games. They currently lie just a place and point above the relegation places, and have looked like a team that will struggle to score too many goals.
Chelsea, on the other hand, despite being winless in their last seven Premier League games, still lie in third place on 26 points, although they are already ten points behind leaders Manchester United.
If the Blues hold any hope of mounting a title challenge, they will need to put on a winning run that will see them pick up every single point on offer this month. Benitez was brought in to not just reignite Torres, but also to provide some defensive stolidity, which he has duly done.
The Blues look like a more compact side now, and the result against Nordsjaelland showed, the attacking prowess has not entirely been compromised for the defensive aspect of the game.
Taking advantage of a Sunderland side struggling to find any kind of rhythm under Martin O'Neill is an absolute must. Chelsea fans have still not stopped giving Benitez a hard time, and there are no signs of that stopping anytime soon either.
So, the Spanish manager will be keen to let the players do the talking on the pitch with a good performance against Sunderland, to take some heat from himself, and with it the team as a whole, as the Blues ready themselves to participate in the World Club Cup after Saturday's Premier League game.
Skipper John Terry will miss the match for the Blues, while Daniel Sturridge and Frank Lampard remain doubtful. John Obi Mikel will serve the first of his three match ban after being found guilty of misconduct by the FA.
Sunderland also have major injury worries, with their main goalscorer Steven Fletcher a major doubt because of an ankle injury, while Lee Cattermole is expected to be out for two months. John O'Shea could make the squad, though.
Expected lineups: Sunderland: Mignolet; Bardsley, Kilgallon, Cuellar, Rose; Gardner, Colback; Johnson, Larsson, Sessegnon; Wickham.
Chelsea: Cech; Cole, Luiz, Cahill, Ivanovic; Romeu, Ramires; Moses, Mata, Hazard; Torres.
Prediction: 2-0 to Chelsea
