Chelsea will be looking to further extend a 30-year streak when they play host to Southampton on Saturday afternoon.
Amid the excitement off the pitch with regards to new signings, Chelsea are enduring a turbulent time on it as they bid to remain among the elite both domestically and on the continent.
With regards to the latter, the Blues suffered a 1-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday night, despite creating a hatful of chances.
European qualification for next year looks increasingly unlikely through the Premier League with the club currently sitting in 10th position in the standings.
Trailing Newcastle United by 10 points with just 16 matches remaining, it realistically leaves games such as the one with the Saints this weekend as a must-win.
Despite Southampton sitting at the bottom of the table and without a permanent head coach, that is far from a foregone conclusion with Graham Potter's team having won just twice in 13 games.
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The West Londoners head into their latest encounter with the South-coast outfit looking to avoid suffering back-to-back defeats to this opponent for the first time since 1993.
Southampton deservedly prevailed by a 2-1 scoreline when the teams met at St Mary's in August, a game which contributed to the eventual sacking of Thomas Tuchel.
Ruben Selles will be taking charge of his second match as caretaker boss, the first coming earlier in the season before the appointment of Nathan Jones.
However, the Spaniard has the opportunity to deliver Southampton's first double over Chelsea since the 1987-88 season.
At a time when Chelsea's struggles in attack have been well-documented, Southampton have kept just one clean sheet in the top flight in 28 matches.
Darren Plant
