So, sadly, the unbeaten run in all competitions ended at the hands of Manchester United on Wednesday, but four league wins on the spin is not to be scoffed at, and another victory in Hertfordshire would lift Chelsea up to third. Leicester play at Crystal Palace on Sunday.

Hostile territories hold no fear for Frank Lampard’s Chelsea. The Blues have drawn first blood in four of the five league matches away from Stamford Bridge so far.

In fact, only Liverpool (13) have gained more league points on the road this season than Chelsea’s 12, and the Blues are top scorers with 16. Sixty per cent of our points and 70 per cent of goals have come on an away ground, and Tammy Abraham is the league’s top scorer on the road.

Chelsea have won 16 of the last 20 matches against sides who began the day bottom of the table. This weekend a milestone can be achieved that has only happened once before in 1988/89, when the Blues were briefly a Division Two side.

Hat-trickery

Vicarage Road is the setting for the Blues’ second successive 5.30 Saturday kick-off away from Stamford Bridge. Last weekend Christian Pulisic graced Turf Moor with Chelsea’s 119th hat-trick in the league since September 1905, and the 26th in the Premier League. In doing so, at 21 years and 38 days, ‘Captain America’ became the club’s youngest treble-scorer in the top flight since… Tammy Abraham at Wolves in September.

Premier League top scorers

Jamie Vardy 9Tammy Abraham 8Sergio Aguero 8Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 7Raheem Sterling 7

No club has had two players so young score a hat-trick in a single Premier League campaign, and the last time two Blues did so away from the Bridge in the same season was 1997/98: Gianluca Vialli at Barnsley, and Tore Andre Flo at Tottenham.

Players of 36 different nationalities have now scored for the Londoners in the Premier League and Pulisic, the first from the USA, coolly did so with his left foot, right foot and a header – the perfect version of a hat-trick.

He is the first to manage that feat for the Blues in the league since Drogba in the title-winning thrashing of Wigan back in May 2010. The others were Kalou against Stoke in 2010, Hasselbaink at home to Tottenham in 2002, and Vialli, again, in 1997 against Barnsley.

Champions League catch-up

Prior to last year’s semi-final success at Tottenham, next week’s visitors Ajax had won once on English soil in 47 years.

Watford woes

Watford are facing an unwelcome first – never before have Watford failed to win any of their opening 11 league matches. (The last Premier League side to do so were Queen’s Park Rangers in 2012/13.)The Hornets have become harder to play against in the month since the Spanish coach returned to Vicarage Road, managing a few draws. Yet they remain at the foot of the table, and have accrued the fewest points of their past seven top-flight campaigns.

Quique Sanchez Flores has welcomed ‘more mature’ defending but, without the likes of injured Etienne Capoue, Troy Deeney, Isaac Success, and Danny Welbeck, he has detected a nervousness in front of goal that has made them the league’s most goal-shy side. The Hertfordshire club have failed to score in six of their 10 Premier League games to date.

Lampard’s tactical tweaks

The young Blues had clearly been briefed to match Burnley, the top-flight’s most aggressive and direct side, from the outset, and then take the game to them. They did exactly that and, after the triumph at Ajax, this was another test passed by this young side and their coach, who continues to impress.

Prior to the Southampton match, Lampard and his staff decided to switch from pure zonal marking at set-plays to a hybrid set-up where some players have an opponent to track while other, taller team-mates protect the danger zones or attack the incoming cross. No goal has been conceded from a corner or crossed free-kick since.

Mason Mount was also moved further forward in a number 10 role and caused problems behind Burnley’s midfield, delivering the third goal for Pulisic. Behind him, the transformed pairing of Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic completed more than 92 per cent of passes from central midfield. Equally importantly, the central midfielders recovered possession 23 times over the 90 minutes.

Another success for the coach’s man-management has been the rekindling of Michy Batshuayi. The Belgian’s midweek wonder strike against United was his fifth goal in eight appearances, which compares very favourably to the 24 in 61 over his Blues career. The Batman has also scored in each of his three top-flight matches against Watford, netting four in total – more than against any other team in the Premier League.

Coming up

Next weekend’s visitors Crystal Palace, enjoying their best start to a season since 2015/16, host third-placed Leicester in Sunday’s 2pm kick-off, live on Sky Sports.

On Saturday the next stage of the Conti Cup takes Chelsea Women to the Dripping Pan stadium, home of Lewes, who have lost their last five games in all competitions.

Jon Russell’s stoppage-time winner at Plymouth on Tuesday earned the Under-21s a place in the EFL Trophy round two draw, which takes place in two weeks’ time, with ties to be played in early December.

VAR’s winners and losers

Hornets’ head honcho Flores, a supporter of the Video Assistant Referee concept, feels the execution of it in the Premier League has led to ‘very subjective’ decisions. Frank Lampard may have cause to agree.

The Premier League has clocked up 100 games, with more than 600 incidents now reviewed, and more decisions were overruled last weekend than at any previous stage. The seven overturns made it a total of 26 over the whole campaign.

Buried among the statistics are some other nuggets. For example, the teams that have benefited the most to date are Crystal Palace and Leicester (three overturns in their favour). As if you needed telling, the club that has lost out most on reviews is Chelsea (also three).

Watford and Newcastle are the only teams yet to be involved in an overturned decision.

General election pointer

Britons will go to the polling stations again on 12 December, and it would take a sensational effort (not to mention a degree of good fortune) for the Blues to keep up a remarkable record of being top of Premier League table and/or champions on the day of the last four general elections.Chelsea position at time of General Elections since 2002 5 May 2005 1st, champions six days earlier6 May 2010 1st, champions three days later7 May 2015 1st, champions four days earlier8 June 2017 1st, champions 28 days earlier

The Blues were also Division One champions at the time of the general election on 26 May 1955.

Premier League fixtures

SaturdayBournemouth v Manchester United 12.30pm (BT Sport)Arsenal v Wolves 3pmAston Villa v Liverpool 3pmBrighton v Norwich 3pmManchester City v Southampton 3pmSheffield United v Burnley 3pmWest Ham v Newcastle 3pmWatford v Chelsea 5.30pm (Sky Sports)

SundayCrystal Palace v Leicester 2pm (Sky Sports)Everton v Tottenham 4.30pm (Sky Sports)

Premier League table

Click for the pre-match stats