Post-Mourinho era at Chelsea overshadows title tilts

Mourinho will be gone but not forgotten at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea's players and fans get the chance to respond to the polarising Portuguese coach's sacking.

Dismissed on Thursday just days after a 2-1 defeat at Leicester left the Blues languishing one point above the relegation zone, Mourinho had apparently lost the support of a significant section of the Chelsea squad.

Suggestions that several players, Eden Hazard, Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas and Nemanja Matic reportedly among them, had grown unhappy as a result of feeling the lash of Mourinho's acerbic tongue were substantiated by Chelsea technical director Michael Emenalo's talk of "palpable discord between the manager and players".

Mourinho had claimed after the Leicester loss that he had been "betrayed" by his players and, with that in mind, it will be fascinating to see how Chelsea's underachieving stars perform now.

There will be also be plenty of focus on the Stamford Bridge stands, where Chelsea's fans had remained loyal to Mourinho right until the bitter end.

Even at Leicester they were chanting his name and their reaction during the Sunderland game will show whether Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich's move has the support of the masses.

Abramovich was said to be keen to secure an interim replacement for Mourinho in time for Sunderland, with Dutchman Guus Hiddink -- who has already successfully performed the same role at Chelsea for three months in 2009 -- high on his shortlist.

But regardless of who is in charge this weekend, Chelsea can ill-afford a 10th league defeat of the season, especially against a Sunderland side only three points behind them, as the west Londoners aim to climb away from the relegation zone.

"I cannot explain why consistency has been so difficult to achieve. I don't know what happened to us against Leicester," Matic said.Â

"In the game against Porto, a very good team, we played very well, we scored two goals and created chances, but we were like another team on the pitch against Leicester."

Fixtures (1500 GMT unless stated)

Saturday

Chelsea v Sunderland, Everton v Leicester, Manchester United v Norwich, Southampton v Tottenham, Stoke v Crystal Palace, West Brom v Bournemouth, Newcastle v Aston Villa (1730 GMT)

Sunday

Watford v Liverpool (1330 GMT), Swansea v West Ham (1600 GMT) 

Monday

Arsenal v Manchester City (2000 GMT)