But winning has become a habit for Chelsea, and their recent blip in form is likely to be corrected by the return of John Terry (right). Mourinho's team are unlikely to go through such an erratic period again, and yet the gap to United is not intimidating.

Despite Alex Ferguson's bluster about how good his squad is, injuries to his first choice XI leave him with an assortment of players that have previously shown themselves to be lacking the class to secure a league title.

They're due a sticky patch and with away trips to Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham and, yes, Chelsea still to come, expect everyone to hate Mourinho & Co that bit more come May.

BACK MICHAEL VAN GERWEN TO WIN THE BDO WORLD DARTS CHAMPIONSHIP 9-4 Odds quoted are from Betfair Many years ago, a young man by the name of Dennis Priestley came from nowhere to shock Eric Bristow and become the first qualifier to win the world darts championship. The following year, another upstart by the name of Phil Taylor came along, did likewise, and went on to have considerably more success.

According to the whispers in the darts world, history is about to repeat itself. Last year, Dutch teenager Jelle Klaasen shocked Raymond van Barneveld to take the BDO title, yet has failed to make a significant impact since and is as long as 10-1 for this year's event. All the hype this time round concerns Michael van Gerwen, the youngest player ever to play at the Lakeside at the age of 17 years 289 days. Rumour has it that he'll follow Taylor and switch to the richer PDC before he even turns 18. He's already won several open titles as well as winning the Winmau World Masters, coming from behind to beat Martin Adams. Time to believe the hype.

Where the money was. . .

RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD TO WIN THE PDC WORLD DARTS CHAMPIONSHIP 12.5-1 (Betfair) Over on Sky, the final that everyone wanted certainly lived up to its pre-match billing. As Phil Taylor effortlessly went three sets to nil up, it seemed that the occasion had gotten to Van Barneveld, who was barely capable of hitting a fat 20. With Taylor being backed at as low as 1.07 (100 quid to win seven), Barney was available at 13.5.

Twenty-one 180s from the Dutchman later, we had possibly the greatest final of all time won in sudden death.