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From the last kick of matchweek 1 on Monday to the second kick of matchweek 2 on Saturday, Chelsea get right back into action with our first home match of the new season. If you're Mourinho, you're probably good with the shorter wait between games, since that theoretically gives less time for the likes of Petr Cech and Marco van Ginkel to become disgruntled. Though it might already be too late.
While we wait for midweek League Cup and Champions League commitments to start, Mourinho's ace in the hole for keeping everyone happy is simply to win and continue winning.
"Victories bring happiness to everyone, not just to the ones on the pitch."
"We have to think about the players and they deserve respect but football is about the club first, after that comes the team, after that the players and after that the managers. I am the last one. We cannot put the players in front of the team and in front of the club, it must always be the other way and so with every decision, the first thing we think is about the club and the team, but if we can make it good for club and team and players, it is the perfect situation."
We're certainly off to a happy start, sitting atop the Premier League table after week 1 for the first time since 2010, when a 6-0 on opening day against a similarly newly promoted side had Carlo Ancelotti's men entertaining dreams of defending their Double from the previous season. Another 6-0 followed in week 2, but alas, after 13 weeks on top, winter arrived and heads started to roll, Ned Stark-style.
Despite those bad omens, Chelsea will no doubt be expected to take all three points for the 12th consecutive home opener. Make it so.
Date / Time: Saturday, August 23, 2014, 15:00 BST; 10am EDT; 7:30pm IST
Venue: Stamford Bridge, SW6
Referee: Lee Mason -- one of the more experienced Premier League referees, this will be Mason's 19th Chelsea match. We've lost only three times under his arbitration, though all three of those have come in the last two seasons: QPR at home under Interim, and both matches last year (Newcastle away, Crystal Palace away).
Forecast: A nice, partly cloudy, late summer day.
On TV: none (UK); NBCSN, mun2 (USA); Star Sports 4 (India)
Online: NBC Sports Live Extra (USA)
Chelsea Team News: A clean bill of health -- the only other club without any injuries at the moment is QPR -- means that Jose has any and every option available to him. Keep the same exact starting eleven as last weekend? Ring the changes for no good reason? Something in between? It's all possible.
With the lighter early season schedule (only one game after this for the next three weeks due to the international break) and Mourinho's tendency to not mess with sucess, my guess is we keep (mostly?) the same lineup.
Leicester City Team News: Nigel Pearson outfoxed Roberto Martinez last week, as the promoted side twice came from behind to grab an unlikely point against the Top 4 challengers. And Pearson's got a plan for Chelsea as well.
"Not many people give us much hope but we have a strong resolve. If we can be an awkward customer I'll be happy. I don't want us to just soak up pressure. We need to give each other enough options to maximise our offensive players. We have some threats."
Considering that the Foxes had the third best defense in the same league in which Burnley, shippers of three against Chelsea last week had the best, perhaps attack is indeed Pearson's best option, but we'd have to believe this will play into Chelsea's hands much more than the visitors. So, great plan then!
Three confirmed absentees for Leicester will be failed Manchester United midfield prospects Danny Drinkwater and Matty James, and veteran defender Matthew Upson. Ex-Premier Leaguer Marc Albrighton and the most expensive non-league footballer ever Jamie Vardy face late fitness tests.
Considering the claimed attacking intent, we'll probably see another 4-4-2 from Leicester, with Ulloa and Nugent leading the line, ambitious wingers Knockaert and Mahrez out wide and solid everywhere else.
Previously: The two teams have met over 100 times in the past, but only twice in the last ten years, both high scoring affairs at Stamford Bridge. A 5-2 FA Cup win in Roberto Di Matteo's third game in charge followed a 4-3 extra time League Cup win in 2007. Chelsea have won six in a row against Leicester, our last loss coming in 2000/01, when somehow we contrived to lose twice to the side that finished 13th in the Premier League. The last league match between the two sides at Stamford Bridge produced one of the most perfectly hit shots you'll ever see, and one that made Adrian Mutu an instant crowd favorite.