Chelsea’s kind run of upcoming fixtures bodes well for Andre Villas-Boas’ side as they look to recover from last weekend’s 3-1 defeat at Old Trafford.

While Villas-Boas’ quick passing game and personnel decisions rapidly lessen the importance of previous Fantasy favourites such as Frank Lampard and Florent Malouda, Juan Mata’s role in the new-look Chelsea side grows ever more crucial with each passing fixture.

It’s impossible to say just what effect the failed bid for Luka Modric has had on Villas-Boas’ thinking in terms of team set-up and structure but at present, it’s clear that Mata’s creative streak will be at the hub of Chelsea’s attacks. The somewhat unfortunate loss at the hands of Man United saw Mata involved throughout- he presented more goalscoring opportunities last week than any other player across the ten league fixtures.

Crucially, Mata even seems to have leapt ahead of Lampard in the queue for set-pieces; he took all of Chelsea’s corners in the first half at Old Trafford (ie, when Lampard was on the pitch) and it was his direct free-kick that eventually led to John Terry’s goal at Sunderland a couple of weeks back.

Two goals in four games are indicative of his eye for goal and quick integration to his new side and with (SWA, bol, EVE, qpr, ARS, bla) up next for the Blues, Mata will be key as Villas-Boas’s side look to step up their chase of the champions. While the Chelsea forwards also offer little form or certainty of game time, Mata -at 9.5 in FPL- is presenting quite a case for himself as the Blues attacking player of choice as the new campaign continues to unfold.