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By now it is a stat everyone knows. Jose Mourinho wins the league in his second season at a club. He did it at Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid. When his team led Man City by eight points after 11 matches, following the second weekend in November, many were willing to hand him the championship again. Two months on and the momentum has shifted. Chelsea outsprinted Man City by eight points through the first 11 games but have handed them all back to their title rivals through the last nine matches. They are now at a deadlock just past the halfway mark of the marathon. Chelsea remain favourites but not as many people are willing to hand Joses Chelsea the title. Fewer still are questioning him despite his side giving up a sizeable lead to a team who had David Silva, Vincent Kompany and Sergio Aguero all out injured for the bulk of the time they spent catching up. A look at the opponents during that run shows a slight edge for City but not a monumental one. Manuel Pellegrinis men played just two of the top ten sides, Swansea and Southampton, while Chelsea also played Southampton as well as Tottenham twice and Newcastle. The most notable thing to take away from the eight-game stretch was squad versatility. Mourinho said he would sleep fine after the loss to Newcastle because he felt his team played at a high standard. He couldnt say the same after their second loss, a 5-3 hammering at Tottenham on New Years Day where they looked tired and a long way from the level they had been at for most of the season. During the busiest time in the Premier League season, where Chelsea played four games in eleven days, Mourinho started eight players in all four of those games. Only Man Utd (9) and Burnley (11) started more players during the four-game stretch. Man City started just five in all four of their games. Mourinho clearly knows his best XI. Thibaut Courtois is the leagues best goalkeeper and picks himself, his back four have started 16 of the 20 league games together so far, Cesc Fabregas and Nemanja Matic, playing as a formidable pair in central midfield, have started 18 of the 20 together games this season and in front of them is the tried and tested trio of Eden Hazard, Oscar and Willian. Striker Diego Costa has started a remarkable 17 games of 20 despite regularly, early this season, being linked with injuries. It is not unusual to see a goalkeeper like Courtois start as often he does but it is in front of him that Mourinho has some bigger decisions to make during the second half of the season. Through 20 games there have been 200 outfield spots available on Chelseas starting XI in league matches. The aforementioned 10 players have filled 181 of them – over 90 per cent. This is a number we hardly ever see anymore and shows, up to now, that Chelsea have been lucky with injuries but also, again, that their manager relies heavily on 10 outfield players. Those ten are on pace to fill 344 starting slots of the 380 available throughout a season, an incredible number. Past Champions To show how high this amount is I ran the numbers of the last 10 Premier League winners. The following is the amount of starts the most used 10 players combined for during the season: Man City 13/14 – 273 Man Utd 12/13 - 259 Man City 11/12 – 283 Man Utd 10/11 – 252 Chelsea 09/10 – 280 Man Utd 08/09 – 260 Man Utd 07/08 – 293 Man Utd 06/07 – 269 Chelsea 05/06 – 274 Chelsea 04/05 – 287 No team is close to 344. For such a large sample size the numbers are quite similar. Four of the champions are within ten combined starts and each of the last six winners have fallen between 252 and 283. Manchester United of 2007/08 is the leader of the pack and had six starters all pass the 30-start threshold. This seasons Chelsea have nine of their outfield players all on pace to eclipse this and the only one who is missing is Willian who has started 13 of the last 16 after Andre Schurrle was preferred in three of the first four games. The numbers show their current rate is unsustainable and it is not even close. Squad Depth As well as the Premier League, Chelsea are also still in contention for the Champions League, FA Cup and Capital One Cup. During the festive period, Mourinho elected against squad rotation but he will be forced to rely on it in February and March. That will reduce the projected number of 344 but by how much? Mourinho has been praised for keeping his squad happy during a period when they havent been playing but will the players be good enough for his standard when required? Its not difficult for me to leave players out. Everybody has to be ready to sacrifice for the team, to give everything for the team, not to be selfish, Mourinho said recently. This will be put to the test sooner rather than later. Chelseas favoured 10 are all close to the pace of 30+ starts because no other player is on pace to start double-digit league games this season. Schurrle has started five of 20, John Obi Mikel and Felipe Luis four and Ramires just three. Here is a look at how many outfield players started 10 league games or more for the champions in the last 10 years: Man City 13/14 – 16 Man Utd 12/13 - 16 Man City 11/12 – 15 Man Utd 10/11 – 17 Chelsea 09/10 – 16 Man Utd 08/09 – 17 Man Utd 07/08 – 14 Man Utd 06/07 – 14 Chelsea 05/06 – 15 Chelsea 04/05 – 15 No team even close to 10 and no one with less than 14. Chelsea currently has only 10 outfield players who have started more than five games and we are past the halfway stage. Admittedly, it wont take a lot of changes to get the likes of Schurrle, Mikel, Felipe Luis and Ramires to double-digits but how much does Mourinho want to rely on them? He has lost patience with Schurrle, removing him at half-time recently at Southampton, which was his only start in the past three months. Mikel and Ramires give him different options when he wants to be more defensive in midfield and he usually removes Oscar for one of them. After his performance at Spurs the Brazilian number ten may be on the bench more in the second half. Another Brazilian, Felipe Luis, cost 16 million pounds but the back four have been magnificent in most games this season and have been very difficult to dislodge as bright young star Kurt Zouma (zero starts) knows only too well. Mohamed Saleh and Loic Remy have also struggled to get starts and have just one between them so far. These are barriers Mourinho must find a way past in the second half to reduce the 344 number and increase the double digit starters past 10. Locked in a fierce battle with Man City, Chelsea still have the advantage in terms of fixtures remaining but it is this advantage that Mourinho must use wisely with his squad. History shows us how often he wins in year number two but it also shows us how much he needs to start relying on his squad if he wants to lift the trophy in May. Join us on Saturday from 7:30am et/4:30am pt for a full day of Premier League action including Chelsea vs Newcastle on TSN4 at 10am et/7am pt. Joe Sakic Jersey . The whole deflation of New England Patriots footballs is like a murder mystery without the violence or significance. On one side, this is a ridiculous issue. Teemu Selanne Jersey . I kind of got a taste of being able to pick a suit with the draft lottery, I went with the bow tie. http://www.authenticavalanchepro.com/Jt-...alanche-jersey/. Sterling was banned for life and fined US$2.5 million by the NBA on Tuesday for racist comments the league says he made in a recorded conversation. Nash, who plays for the rival L.A. Lakers, spoke as a representative of current NBA players at a press conference assembled by Sacramento mayor and National Basketball Players Association adviser Kevin Johnson. Rob Ramage Jersey . Trailing by a goal after 20 minutes of play, Joe Pavelski responded with three goals and an assist as the Sharks snapped a two-game losing skid with a 5-2 victory over the struggling Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. Samuel Girard Jersey . At this point, even he isnt sure when it is going to stop. The right-hander dropped his fourth straight decision in Los Angeles 6-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night, leaving his status very much in doubt as the Dodgers prepare for the stretch drive.ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The short-handed St. Louis Blues found a way to win. That is something the Minnesota Wild have struggled to do. Jaden Schwartz scored for the sixth straight game and St. Louis hung on to beat Minnesota 2-1 on Tuesday night. T.J. Oshie also had a goal for St. Louis, which is 5-0-2 in its past seven road games. The Blues are 8-1-2 in their last 11 overall. Alexander Steen and David Backes, two of St. Louis top scorers, were out with upper-body injuries, and the Blues then lost Chris Stewart in the first period when he was hit in the face by a shot from Jason Pominville. "Our lineup is what it is right now and weve just got to find a way," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "Nobody is feeling sorry for us. Weve got to find ways to get points, and this is good." Ryan Suter scored in the closing seconds for the Wild, who have lost a franchise-record six straight games in regulation, and are 5-12-1 in their past 18. They have gone 10 straight games without a win in regulation, leading to speculation regarding coach Mike Yeos job status. "When things go bad, usually you have to hit the bottom before you can start going, and were as close to the bottom as we can get," Suter said. St. Louis, 13-0-1 against the Central Division, hadnt allowed a goal to the Wild for 212 minutes, 52 seconds before Suter scored with 8.3 seconds left in the game. The Blues are 5-0-2 in their last seven games against Minnesota, outscoring the Wild 22-8. Brian Elliott (10-1-2), who made 24 saves, went 6-0-1 with a 1.67 goals-against average in December. His teammates blocked 24 shots. "It just speaks of the commitment we have of winning games like this, when youre on the road and its three tough ones in a row," Elliott said. St. Louis beat Chicago 6-5 in a shootout at home on Saturday and won 3-2 in overtime at Dallas on Sunday. Minnesota had allowed 24 goals in its previous five games -- 11 in its last two -- and much of Mondays practice surrounded defensive-zone coverage. Yeo switched up the defensive pairings with Suter and Jared Spurgeon playing together, and Jonas Brodin teaming up with Marco Scandella. Suter and Brodin have been the teams top defensive pair for most of the season. The switch seemed to work early as Miinnesota limited the Blues to seven first-period shots, none that were difficult for goalie Josh Harding to handle.dddddddddddd "Thats the only way in this league you can win, to play good defence for the full 60 minutes," captain Mikko Koivu said. "I thought we did that pretty good, but then two chances they capitalize, and thats pretty much the end of story." Oshie gave the Blues a 1-0 lead at 6:49 of the second period. Mikael Granlund turned the puck over as he tried to come out of the Minnesota end, and Schwartz snapped a quick backhanded pass to Oshie, who was behind two Wild defenders. Oshie, a Minnesota native, deked Harding and tucked the puck into the net. "We expected a great effort from them, and I think we got that," Oshie said. "The first period they really took it to us, and we got saved by our goalie. After that, we started to get pucks behind them, and that led to our offence." Schwartz made it 2-0 a little more than nine minutes later when his wrist shot from low in the right circle was partially stopped by Harding, but the puck trickled across the line. Schwartz has 11 points in eight games. "Im getting some bounces right now for sure," Schwartz said. "Im just trying to do my job, and producing is part of it." Minnesota, which has the second-fewest goals per game in the NHL (2.19) and the fewest in the Western Conference, was on the power play for most of the periods final two minutes. The Wild failed to generate a shot and were loudly booed off the ice when the period expired. The Wild had another power play early in the third, but Schwartz had the best scoring chance when he got behind two defenders and was stopped by Harding. "It feels a little bit like Groundhog Day right now. The difference is that every game has been a different story," Yeo said. "We had a good start. Our first was good against a team we knew was going to defend hard and play well, and then unfortunately we broke." NOTES: St. Louis is 12-1-5 in one-goal games this season. Minnesota 12-4-5. ... Blues D Kevin Shattenkirk had a six-game point streak snapped. ... This is the eighth consecutive year and 10th time in team history the Wild played at home on New Years Eve. ' ' '