Chelsea moved level on points with second-placed Manchester United courtesy of a 1-0 victory over Southampton at Stamford Bridge this afternoon.
Marcos Alonso scored the only goal of the game with a pinpoint free kick in first-half stoppage time, although Southampton keeper Fraser Forster should have done better.
The champions could not add to their lead in the second half, but they held off the Saints to record a fifth consecutive home league win and close the gap on leaders Manchester City to 11 points.
Find out how all of the action unfolded courtesy of our minute-by-minute updates below.
The Blues have the chance to move temporarily level with second-placed Manchester United today, but they remain a long way off leaders Manchester City and will now be focusing on securing a place in the top four above all else. Southampton, meanwhile, have been inconsistent of late and are only four points clear of the relegation zone, so victory here would be an unexpected bonus for Mauricio Pellegrino's side.
First things first, though, let's check out the team news from West London...
Well the obvious place to start is the absence of Alvaro Morata from the Chelsea starting XI, which is something of a surprise considering the Spaniard was thought to be fully fit for this match. Indeed, Morata is deemed fit enough to be on the bench, so it appears to be a tactical decision from Antonio Conte to leave his top scorer out once again.
Morata missed the win at Huddersfield through a mixture of fatigue and a back problem, and perhaps Conte is unwilling to risk his main striker from the start again yet.
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Hazard scored in both meetings last season and has now had a direct hand in five goals from his last seven appearances against Southampton, scoring three times and creating two more.
Willian scored one and created two in the 3-1 victory at the John Smith's Stadium, and in his last four starts for Chelsea across all competitions he has now been directly involved in six goals, scoring four and creating two.
Bakayoko retains his place in midfield after a display Conte described as his best for the club so far against the Terriers, while behind him Christensen once again keeps his place at the heart of the defence, with David Luiz still sidelined by a knee injury.
The likes of Van Dijk, Tadic and Austin are amongst those to drop out of the starting lineup, with Pellegrino making six changes in all for the trip to the capital. In addition to the aforementioned trio, Lemina, Davis and Boufal also drop out of the team for this one.
The striker drew a blank against Leicester, but he has still scored four goals in his last four games for the Saints and, looking even further back, has netted eight times in his last 12 outings for the club. Manolo Gabbiadini will lead the line in his place today.
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There is also a slightly unfamiliar role for Jack Stephens, who looks set to play in defensive midfield according to the team sheet released by the Saints. We are more used to seeing him operate as a centre-back - and that could still be the case should Pellegrino opt for three at the back - but the initial impression is that Stephens will play in midfield.
Goalscorer Yoshida and former Chelsea man Bertrand also start at the back once again, but there is a return for Wesley Hoedt, who was not included in the matchday squad for the midweek defeat but is brought straight back into the side in place of Van Dijk here.
The teams below Chelsea in the Premier League table have all dropped points recently, which has helped them to build a small cushion to fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh, but it is that battle - rather than the title race - which Antonio Conte will be focused on at the moment.
It is a battle which Manchester United are currently winning, although a victory for Chelsea here would move them level on points with United until at least tomorrow, when Jose Mourinho's side face West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns.
The most recent of those games saw them pick up a 3-1 win at Huddersfield on Tuesday, with Bakayoko, Willian and Pedro all getting on the scoresheet, although last weekend Chelsea did fall to a shock defeat at the hands of West Ham United at the London Stadium - the Hammers' first win under David Moyes.
The Blues have also been strong here at Stamford Bridge in recent weeks, going seven matches without defeat across all competitions since their 1-0 loss to Manchester City back in September.
Indeed, Chelsea have won their last four Premier League outings in front of their own fans, which is a major improvement on the record of just one win from their opening four home league games of the season, drawing one and losing two of those.
Even so, if only home form counted this season then Chelsea would sit down in seventh place, below all of their own top-six rivals and Burnley.
Conte has suffered just nine league defeats as Chelsea boss, and all but one of them have come in London.
Leicester looked capable of scoring at will during their visit to St Mary's, and helped themselves to four goals as Claude Puel enjoyed a dream game against his former club. The 4-1 defeat was not overly harsh on Southampton either, forcing manager Mauricio Pellegrino to apologise to the fans afterwards.
Southampton had six points more at this stage of last season under Puel than they currently do under Pellegrino, not to mention being four places better off.
Defensively, though, Southampton had conceded only 16 goals at this stage of last season, whereas this time around they have let in 23, so the Saints appear to be heading in the wrong direction under Pellegrino.
Indeed, while Southampton may be just one place away from the top half, in terms of points they are equidistant between 10th and 19th in the table, so their season could still very much go either way.
Looking even further back it is now only one win in Southampton's last eight Premier League outings too - with four defeats in that time - which has contributed to their lowest points tally at this stage of a season since 2012-13.
The Saints have actually fared pretty well in two of those so far, only being denied a draw against City by a last-gasp Sterling winner, and then conceding another late goal to deny them victory against Arsenal.
Southampton are winless in their last five away league games and are yet to score more than one goal in an away game all season, so their hopes of getting much from this match look bleak. Southampton have also only won two of their 40 top-flight matches away to the reigning champions, although the most recent one of those came against Chelsea in 2015. Victory at Leeds in 1970 is the only other occasion they have managed to beat the champions on their own patch.
Southampton will demand a response to that defeat at the hands of Leicester and proved against Man City and Arsenal that they can put up a fight against the big teams, but I cannot look past a Chelsea win here. Even with Morata on the bench, I'm backing the hosts to have enough for all three points today.
SPORTS MOLE SAYS: Chelsea 2-0 Southampton
However, that is Chelsea's only loss in their last eight meetings with the Saints, winning five and drawing two in that time, so the Blues have certainly had the better of this fixture in recent years.
Indeed, that 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge, with Antti Niemi in goal, is Southampton's only clean sheet in their last 24 league games against Chelsea.
Romeu and Bertrand - both against the former club - responded for Southampton, but their second was merely a consolation and by that point Chelsea already had the points wrapped up.
CHELSEA STARTING XI: Courtois; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Cahill; Moses, Kante, Bakayoko, Alonso; Willian, Hazard, Pedro
SOUTHAMPTON STARTING XI: Forster; Cedric, Hoedt, Yoshida, Bertrand; Stephens, Romeu, Ward-Prowse, Hojbjerg, Redmond; Gabbiadini
The Spaniard bends his free kick around the wall and it is perfectly placed into the bottom corner to beat Forster. The Southampton keeper should have done better, though, as he was slow to react and didn't get across goal quick enough.
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The champions were slow to get settled and Southampton would have been delighted with their own performance until the dying seconds of the first half, when Chelsea finally broke the deadlock.
Despite the perfect placement of his strike, Fraser Forster should have done better as he was slow to react and get across to the ball. The Southampton keeper may have been expecting Willian to go for goal and then was probably unsighted as Alonso went around the wall, but he still should have done better.
Forster looked like he would have been beaten at his near post by the deflection, but fortunately for him he was saved by the woodwork.
At the very least the Saints have certainly improved from their midweek defeat to Leicester, which is a positive to take for Pellegrino so far. Southampton have not scored more than one goal in any away game so far this season, though, so they have plenty of work to do to get back into this match.
The win lifts Chelsea up to joint-second in the table, although still behind Manchester United on goal difference and 11 points adrift of Manchester City. Southampton can be pleased with a lot of what they did today, but ultimately it is now five games without a win for the Saints.
Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for today's game as Chelsea edge past Southampton at Stamford Bridge! I will leave you with our match report, and be sure to stick around for reaction from all of the 3pm kickoffs. From me, though, it is goodbye for now!