Andy Gray says victory at Newcastle this Sunday will give champions Chelsea a much-needed lift.
Very few teams - if any - can play football of the quality that Chelsea produced at the start of this Premier League season and maintain that level for the whole campaign.
Carlo Ancelotti called it 'Playstation football' and he wasn't far off; it was asking way too much for his side to carry on beating teams by five or six without conceding.
There was always going to be a dip in form at some point. Any manager, though, hopes that when that inevitable dip in form does occur that he still has all of his best players fit and ready.
Unfortunately for Ancelotti that has been anything but the case. Chelsea's blip has coincided with those injuries to Frank Lampard and John Terry, as well as Michael Essien's suspension and it's taken its toll in the form of three defeats in the last four league games.
Upheaval
Of course, the upheaval behind the scenes at Stamford Bridge hasn't helped the club in general.
If the decision to part company with Ray Wilkins was made on purely financial grounds then I think it is a false economy because whatever Ray was costing Chelsea, he was paying the sum back three-fold in what he contributed to winning the double last year.
But we won't know the full story until Chelsea or Ray come out with the definitive reasons; until then the link between Ray's exit, the dip in results and the suggestion that Roman Abramovich is playing a more active role in the day-to-day running of the club remains hypothetical.
I doubt it would bother Ancelotti much if Abramovich was a bit more hands-on. It might be strange for the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, Harry Redknapp or Arsene Wenger but someone like Ancelotti, who has spent much of his managerial career in Italian football, is well used to the notion of an owner having a massive say and input around the club.
No-one can tell me that Silvio Berlusconi didn't take an active interest in what was going on at AC Milan when Ancelotti was in charge!
I still think Ancelotti will be disappointed that Ray has gone. Ray was well-liked and a very good sounding board for Ancelotti between the players and himself. It was a strange decision and every time I try to come up with a valid reason for Ray's exit I don't get one.
Threat
That said, I don't have a worry about Chelsea's form in the longer term and I think they will go to Newcastle this weekend and win even though Terry and Lampard are still on the mend.
In Terry's absence, it will be fascinating to see how Chelsea's centre-backs cope with the threat of Andy Carroll on Sunday.
Carroll carries a genuine threat in the air, has the ability to test and work the best defenders and is learning more and more each week about what it takes to play centre forward in the Premier League week-in, week-out.
He'll probably be up against Alex and Branislav Ivanovic, both of whom are also decent in the air but not as physical so Carroll could have an edge in that area; I'm sure he will try to upset their rhythm by roughing them up legally and he could well succeed - but I still think it won't be enough to deny Chelsea three points.
Incredible
That may seem strange given that Chelsea have only scored once in their last four league games but the statistic doesn't tell the whole story.
I would be worried if Chelsea weren't creating chances but there was a very valid reason why they didn't score against Birmingham City - Ben Foster had one of the best games a goalkeeper could wish to have. He made three or four incredible saves and four or five decent ones. Chelsea played very well and somehow transpired to lose the game.
Mind you, I thought they were poor against Sunderland. That happens and it could occur again on Sunday. Although I don't expect them to slip up at St James' Park, there are plenty of teams queuing up behind them if they do - Manchester United, Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham to name but four.
Harry Redknapp is very bullish about his Spurs' prospects at present and with good reason after qualifying for the next phase of the Champions League with a game to spare.
Spurs play Liverpool in our second live game on Sunday and it should be a fabulous match.
Harry knows it won't be an easy one, not least because Liverpool are stubborn and difficult to break down. But he'll be desperate to get a result to put to bed any more talk of a Champions League hangover.
Earlier this month Spurs beat Inter Milan only to lose to Bolton and I'm sure that - just as there will be extra interest in Chelsea's latest result this weekend - there will be plenty more people waiting to see if a similar scenario transpires at Spurs again.
